PJatO FF The Prophecy of Seven
by CobaltCharlie
Summary: My OCs and Rick Riordan's characters embark on an adventure to save the world and all camps.


One-

Addison knocked on the doorway of his mother's workout room.  
>"Mom," he began. His mother looked up from the mat on the floor. There was a tittering and giggling from the teenage girls in the workout room. Addison could not tell if his cheeks were turning red or not. He hoped not.<br>"Yes, dear?" she asked, while helping a girl with her form.  
>"I just-"began Addison, but he was interrupted. A girly scream erupted down the hall and raced past him in the form of two of his sisters. Addison clutched his ear.<br>"I WANTED TO TELL-" shouted Addison, over the noise, but his mother made silence motions with her hand.  
>"EMILY! AMY! CEASE THAT RACKET AT ONCE!" shouted his mother, down the hall. The screaming ebbed down.<br>"Sorry, dear, what were you saying?" asked Lucille Abbott Morse. Her green eyes were inquisitive underneath her blue headband and blond ponytail.  
>"Mom, I wanted to let you know that I'm going out to see a movie," said Addison. She nodded, and the blond ponytail bounced.<br>"Who are you going with?" asked Mrs. Morse. Her question caught him off guard.  
>"Uhh, a friend from school," said Addison, hastily turning away to avoid any more questions.<br>"Which friend?" asked Mrs. Morse, sensing something was amiss.  
>"Uhh, Mae," he responded, feeling his ears turn red.<br>"You know I don't approve of you dating without a chaperone," called Mrs. Morse, to his fleeing back.  
>"It's so not a date!" protested Addison. His sister began to roll down the stairs and bumped into him.<br>"Jenny, move- and Mom, it's so not a big deal," he groaned, while his mother lectured him.  
>"Fine! I'll ask her brother to go with us," grumbled Addison. Mrs. Morse turned around and muttered something to the class. He could hear their laughter echoing down the hall and up the stairs. He fell on his bed and groaned aloud.<br>"What are you groaning about?" chirped Amy, bouncing in his room on a massive exercise ball. He groaned again.  
>"Amy, I'm groaning about the woe of man," he muttered, covering his eyes with the crook of his elbow.<br>"Oh! You mean women?" she said, her voice slightly shaking because of the bouncing rubber did not answer. Call him a finicky person, but Addison did not like people. Much less talking about things that he would rather keep in his head instead of telling his step-sister.  
>"Did you get a girl pregnant?" asked Amy, still bouncing.<br>"WHAT? Where did you get that from? Never mind, GET OUT!" he roared, jumping off his bed and shoving her out with a slam of his door. He lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. What would it have been like living with his dad? wondered Addison. No annoying half-sister, or embarrassing moms, or having to have a chaperone on a hangout with one of his best friends who was coincidentally a girl, but she was really just one of the guys. Her name was Mae Jordan. She was pretty, but she was always more like a sister than an interest. She was sporty and was extremely good at piano and singing. Her orange-red freckles always highlighted her Irish face that was surprisingly tan. Large, dark blue eyes illuminated her narrow face. She was almost always laughing when they were together. Raised by her grandparents, Mae had understood what it felt like to have a missing dad. Her mother was a music major in high-school and had gotten pregnant when she was just sixteen. Unable to raise the child herself, Diane Jordan gave the baby to her parents. The poor kid never sees her mother because her mother is haunted by her identical smile to that of her father. Although Mae was cool for being raised by her grandparents, she always seemed to get really quiet around anyone else besides her family and Addison. Addison remembered the movie, and guilt washed over him when he remembered the lie he had told his mom. Mae did not even have a brother. How was he supposed to have a chaperone without the made up brother? Easy, he would not. Addison grabbed his keys and ran down to his car. He had driven down the Mae's house countless times and had no trouble in finding it again. He knocked, and the door swung open to his touch. Mae's freckly face glowed at him.  
>"Give me a second," she said, racing back up the stairs. Addison was ushered in by her kind grandparents.<br>"So what movie are you going to go see?" asked Grandma. Addison smiled tightly and shrugged. Being talked to by both grandparents was slightly overwhelming, at least for Addison it was. As it was said earlier, he does not really like people.  
>"Oh, dear, before you leave, how about you take some jelly," chirped Grandma, bustling off towards the pantry. Mae came down the stairs at that exact same time.<br>"Oh, Grandma, don't do that," she implored, casting an apology glance at Addison. He smiled back. Gramps went into a long conversation about tires, and how one could never be too careful.  
>"Oh, well, I'm sure that Addison will remember, Gramps. We've got to get to the movie," she said, pulling Addison out the door. Once they were in the car, Mae burst out laughing. She was normally very quiet around other people but not around Addison.<br>"You poor boy," she said, laughing still.  
>"My Gramps and Grandma must really have done a number on you," she said, chuckling. Addison smiled ruefully and kept driving.<br>"What movie are we seeing?" asked Mae, practically bouncing in her seat.  
>"Uhh, how about-" began Addison. He seemed to fade away. He fiddled with his necklace around his neck while he thought. Mae came up with a movie, and they went to it.<br>After the movie, they drove home. Mae was fiddling with her eyelashes in the mirror.  
>"Are you primping yourself just for me?" asked Addison, in a playful tone. Her blue eyes glared at him. She smacked him on the arm.<br>"Yeah, no," she said, returning her gaze to the mirror. "I've got an eyelash in my eye, and I'm trying to get it out, Attention-whore. Keep your eyes on the road before we have a car-wreck." Addison swerved the wheel to mess with Mae. YThe car jolted a little bit. Mae grinned and fished out the eyelash.  
>"Why don't-" began Mae, but a sudden impact cut her sentence short. There was a short scream as they were hit, and the car swerved into a tree. They blacked out.<p>

Addison was the first to come to. He blinked and stared at the fluffy, white bag in front of his face. He pushed it down, and his eyes went immediately to Mae. her eyes were closed.  
>"Mae! Mae! Wake up!" commanded Addison, shaking her shoulder. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open, and that was the most welcoming sight that Addison had ever experienced.<br>"Ad, where are we?" she mumbled, groggily. She blinked and tried to push down the airbag.  
>"We hit a car. Are you alright?" he asked, anxiously. She nodded, but her eyes were sliding out of focus.<br>"Mae, stay with me." he ordered. Mae nodded. Addison jerked open his door and hauled her out. He could not believe how light she was. He laid her on the ground and turned to see where the car had come from. There was no road at all besides the one he was on. He replayed the scene in his head. The red pickup truck had slammed in the side of his car head on. The only way that it was possible was if the person was waiting for someone to come around the bend of the road and then decided to race out onto the road. Mae looked a little more alert.  
>"Check if the person is okay in the next car," she said. "I'll be fine," she said, getting up. Addison nodded and walked slowly to the red pickup. He could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. A woman was lying face down on the steering-wheel. As soon as Addison's sneaker crunched on the broken glass, her head snapped up weirdly.<br>"Ma'am, are you okay?" asked Addison, tentatively. All warnings were going off in his brain. The door creaked open, and a woman clad in snake boots stepped out.  
>"Nice boots, coughed Mae. The woman smiled, but she really was ugly.<br>"Thanks, doll," she drawled. "You kids out on a date or somethin'?" she asked, blowing a bubble and popping it. Addison and Mae gritted their teeth.  
>"NO!" Mae nearly shouted. Addison could feel his ears go red. Mae's temper was quick, but she soon got over it.<br>"DO you need us to help you with getting your car out of those muddy ruts?" asked Mae, a little more calmly. The lady smiled.  
>"Oh, would you? That will just be dandy!" she chirped. Addison gave Mae a look and heaved the back of the pickup truck upwards. He dropped the back on harder ground. Beads of perspiration lined his brow. A horrible stench hit his nose. He leaned against the back of the truck and against the tarp that covered it. The horrible stench was coming from the back.<br>"What are you doing out here?" asked Mae, to the lady. Addison leaned against the back harder. The tarp moved a couple of inches. Addison leaned over to replace the tarp when he froze. He could see a hand that was holding a bronze wallet. Addison's breath froze in his chest.  
>"What are you doing?" asked the woman, shrilly. Addison ripped off the tarp that covered it. Two, dead bodies lay with frozen expressions on their faces. From the looks of it, they were boy was the one that Addison had seen the hand of, and the girl lay clutching a<p>

eheadband.  
>"What the-" began Mae. The lady's image flickered. Suddenly, the snake boots were not just boots. They were her scaly legs. The woman grabbed Mae by the neck and hoisted her up in the air. Her ugly face grew even uglier, and pearly white fangs gleamed wickedly.<br>"Who-o-o are y-you?" gasped Mae, struggling with all her might.  
>"Lamia, cursed to suck little children's blood forever," she said, hissing. Addison was frozen with fear. For some reason, he picked up the wallet that the boy was holding. A card stuck out. His hand brushed up against the card, and it transformed into an axe. Lamie slashed across Mae's face drawing blood. She tossed Mae aside and snarled at Addison. He kept swing but kept missing. Finally, he swung too late, and she dove for his neck. Addison waited with baited breath to wait the final outcome. Nothing happened. He peaked open one of his slitted eyes and looked out. With a sound like a dying dog, Lamia looked completely shocked with the point of an arrow protruding from her brow. She disintegrated. He glanced up to see who had killed her, and he saw Mae holding a long, slender bow and bag of arrows. The light faded from her eyes, and she collapsed. Addison rushed over to her and gently picked her up. Blood mingled with her fiery orange-red hair.<br>"Mae! Listen to me!" sobbed Addison, clutching her and wiping the blood from the claw marks on her face. "Don't die on me!" He struggled to walk over to his car, but it refused to turn on. That left him with the vampire demon's car. The car rattled and banged all the way back to the grandparents' house.  
>"Oh, they're back already!" said Grandma, cheerfully opening the door. Her smile melted off her face as soon as she saw what had happened.<br>"Louis, bring towels, hot water, and that god-forsaken letter," she ordered, to her husband. "This way," she said, hustling them to the couch.  
>Addison sat quietly staring at Mae's pale body. The cuts had been cleaned long ago, and she lay resting on the couch. The color was slowly filling out her face and making her seem more alive. The front door opened before they heard the knock.<br>"Addison!" exclaimed Mrs. Morse, sprinting over to her son and embracing him. He stared down at the headband laying innocently on the coffee table. At the press of a button, it had become the bow and the quiver of arrows that had saved Addison's life.  
>"What happened?" asked Mrs. Morse. Addison told his mother everything and waited for his mother to start screaming at him to stop telling lies. But she did not. She just stared at him as though putting pieces of puzzle together.<br>"I had a dream last night, Addy," began his mother, slowly. Addison looked up from staring at his hands.  
>"It-it was your father's voice," she stammered. Addison listened closely.<br>"He told me to send you to Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York," choked Mrs. Morse, breaking down in hysterical sobs. Addison's gaze returned to Mae's unconscious figure.  
>"We need to go now," said Addison, over the sobs. His mother looked up.<br>"What?" she squawked. He met his mother's gaze evenly.  
>"We need to go now," he repeated. he walked across the room to Mae's body.<br>"Take her with you," croaked Grandma. She stood in the doorway connecting the living room to the kitchen. She was clutching a letter in her hand, and there were tear streaks down her face.  
>"The letter...?" began Addison.<br>"It has the same instructions," she said, simply. Addison scooped up her body and carried her out to the red pickup truck. He threw the tarp back over the back of the vehicle before his mom saw the dead bodies. He saw Mae up in the front and buckled her in. His mother climbed in next. A two day journey awaited them.

Two

What the campers all saw (for those who were watching the boundaries everyday for more campers) was a beat up, old, red pickup truck rumble across the lawn. Chiron clip-clopped nervously on the porch. If you were wondering why a horse was on the porch, trust me when I say, he was not exactly a horse. The bottom half of his body was a horse, and the top half was a middle-aged man. He was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Party Pony since 40 B.C." His eyes narrowed when the truck came to a shuddering stop. The campers crowded curiously around the truck. Addison climbed out and scooped up Mae. At the sight of a buff, blond guy, half of the girls swooned. Half of that half looked disappointed at the sight of a girl in his arms. The cuts looked worse across Mae's face. At the sight of Chiron, Addison's jaw nearly dropped. Chiron galloped across the lawn.

"Excuse me, she needs medical attention," said Addison, convinced that anyone that was part horse must have excellent medical services. Chiron snapped his fingers, and several kids strapped with bows and quivers full of arrows rushed forward to carry her to the Big House. Addison took in the scene dotted with various cabins and patches of strawberries.

Addison's mother was not permitted to cross the boundaries. She stood on the hill wondering how to get back to Memphis, Tennessee. A girl walked down the hillside. Her cloudy gray eyes examined the mother. Mrs. Morse stared at her lightly curled, blond hair that hit her shoulders. An orange shirt with the camp's name somehow made her eyes even more cloudy looking. A purple headband kept back most of her hair. Dingy, gray capris, and the scrubby, purple high-tops completed her look. A rawhide string that was strung with three beads hung about her neck. What looked like bronze handled daggers were strapped to her capri-clad legs.

"Addison and Mae are safe. Give this to the first taxi cab that you see, and it will see you to where you live." said the girl, handing her a card. Mrs. Morse looked anxiously at the hill where the kids had disappeared. She nodded a little uncertainly and turned back to the city. The girl returned to the camp.

"So you're telling me that this camp is for kids that have a Greek god as a parent?" asked Addison, to Chiron. He nodded after explaining all of Addison's questions.

"So who's mine?" asked Addison. Chiron smiled.

"We don't know until you've been claimed," responded Chiron. "What are you good at?" Addison thought for a moment.

"Sports, fixing stuff, and umm, weightlifting," he responded.

"Hmm, Ares, Hephaestus, or Apollo," he said, tapping his chin. "You say it's your father, right?" Addison nodded.

"How old are you?" asked Chiron.

"Sixteen," Addison responded.

"How old is your girlfriend?" Chiron asked. Addison bit back his rude retort.

"She isn't my girlfriend, and Mae is fifteen," he responded, evenly. Surprisingly, he liked talking to Chiron. Usually, a stranger could not get more than two sentences from him. Chiron made him feel at home. Addison explained in detail what had befallen them.

"I believe I have two campers of your's," remembered Addison. He showed Chiron the back of the truck. A cloud of sadness crossed the old centaur's face.

"Maggie and Ethan Yew," he said. "Twins from Nike." Addison guiltily pulled out the bronze wallet that turned into an axe.

"Mr. Chiron, sir, this belonged to Ethan," he said, handing him the wallet. Chiron waved it away.

"It's yours if you want it," said Chiron. Campers carted away the bodies. Addison nodded and walked back to Mae's room. A girl with slightly curly, blond hair, and cloudy gray eyes stood frowning on the porch.

"Are you a friend of Mae's?" the girl asked. He nodded and was glad that she did not refer to her as his girlfriend.

"Who are you?" he asked, glancing at the door to Mae's room.

"Olivia Hob, daughter of Hecate," she responded, not even offering her hand. As he was watching, her hair seemed to grow.

"Is your hair alive?" asked Addison, somewhat startled. She smiled ruefully.

"My mother is the goddess of magic, and therefore, I use magic. Magic affects the host in different ways. Some have drastic weight changes, and others experience height changes. My hair changes lengths," explained Olivia. Addison nodded and was distracted by a noise from Mae's room. She staggered out and would have fallen if Addison had not caught her. Olivia watched a look of concern and tenderness cross Addison's face. She had been listening when Chiron had been talking about Mae, and she laughed in her head when she remembered his venomous response to Chiron's remark.

"Here, Mae," he said, gently placing her on a chair on the porch. A girl rushed out from Mae's room balancing a tall glass full of liquid.

"Here, drink this," offered Remy, a girl from Apollo. She offered Mae a tall glass of golden liquid. Mae took it gratefully, and her cheeks flushed with color as soon as she drunk it. The festering wounds began to melt into new skin at once.

"What is this?" asked Mae, her voice strong.

"Nectar, drink of the gods," answered Remy, smiling. Mae was already looking a lot healthier. "That and Ambrosia will heal most any injury, but if you eat too much of it, you will burn up. Literally." Mae nodded and then looked confused.

"Drink of the gods?" she asked, puzzled. Addison sat down beside her and explained everything. When he was done, Mae's beautiful blue eyes were opened up wide.

"Wow," she murmured. "So who do you think is my dad?" she asked. Addison frowned and shrugged.

"No idea," he responded. A horn sounded.

"What is that?" asked Addison and Mae, at the same time.

"The signal to start our daily activities," responded Remy. She hovered uncertainly on the porch. Mae tried to rise.

"Don't," advised Remy, pushing her down. "You'll be lucky if you are able to join supper and campfire tonight." She looked anxiously out in the direction of the Arena.

"Go," urged Mae, seeing her longing expression. "I'll be fine." Remy grinned and sped off.

"See you around," said Olivia, almost lazily. She grabbed a hold of the porch railing and flipped over. Addison's brown eyes followed her.

"Who's she?" asked Mae, seemingly innocently.

"Olivia Hob," he responded.

"So, you going to ask her out? Or are you just going to look like a marooned puppy all day long?" she asked, teasingly. Addison flushed.

"No way. I don't even begin to feel that way about her." said Addison, giving Mae a look. Mae laughed and took another sip of Nectar.

A lazy haze had settled over the campers as they toasted marshmallows around the campfire and sang songs. Addison and Mae had never had so much fun in one night. A friendly, black girl with corkscrew curls sat next to Mae and explained everything of importance to her. Her hair stood out in a curly mass that had been cut halo style around her head. Electric blue eyes lit up her mixed chocolate and vanilla face. When she walked over to the s'mores table, Mae could see her leg muscles flex. Must be Nike's kid, she guessed. However, she was wrong. When she bounced back, Mae asked her.

"Who is your godly parent?" asked Mae, watching Addison out of the corner of her eye.

"My dad's Zeus," she replied, biting into a gooey S'more.

"Really? So you can control weather and stuff?" asked Mae, biting into her own s'more. The girl nodded.

"That would be cool if I was a daughter of Zeus," remarked Mae, imagining zapping Lamia with lightening. The girl laughed and finished her s'more.

"Then you could be my sister, and I would have competition for head counselor when Jason leaves," laughed the girl. Mae smiled and looked across the campfire. A blond boy was sitting next to a gorgeous, Indian girl and a Hispanic boy. Mae's mouth dropped slightly open. The boy was gorgeous. Chiron cleared his throat and held up his glass. Everyone fell silent.

"As we all know, tomorrow, Jason, Piper, and Leo are going with Annabeth to retrieve our long lost Percy Jackson." said Chiron. The roar of approval nearly deafened Mae. A girl with stormy gray eyes and blond hair in a ponytail stood up next to the Athena banner.

"To Percy," she cried, holding up her glass. The crowd echoed her toast, and the fire became a blazing red. Mae leaned over to the girl.

"Who's Percy?" she asked. The girl's blue eyes glittered brightly.

"He is the one who basically leads this camp and who defeated Kronos last summer," replied the girl.

"Trixie, where is your banner?" asked a boy, behind them. Mae and the girl glanced up. He was cute.

"Jason's got it," she said. The blond kid rolled his eyes.

"No duh," he replied. "That was an oh-so-casual way of saying go sit with your cabin," he snapped. Trixie rolled her eyes and pulled Mae up.

"If you are a daughter of Apollo, you know where you aren't wanted," said Trixie, laughing. They walked over to Jason (the gorgeous blond one) and sat down. Mae enjoyed every minute of that night. Mae was laughing at a joke Leo had said and was too busy to notice the glowing emblem above her head. Trixie turned to her and gawked.

"Chiron, we have a claiming!" shouted Trixie. Everyone turned and reverently bowed. Mae glanced around confused.

"Hail, Mae Jordan, daughter of Apollo, god of music, prophecy, healing, and the sun," said Chiron. Mae looked up to see a glowing stick with two serpents entwined around it. Her gaze met Addison's. He looked shocked.

That night, Mae was led by the boy that had sent Trixie back to her banner.

"Will Solace. I'm the cabin counselor," said Will, extending his hand. His brown eyes were warm and friendly.

"Cool," Mae responded. "Mae Jordan, as you probably heard when Chiron announced my parent." Will smiled again and led her into an elaborate, gold cabin. Inside was an array of bunks, and trash. Apparently, the Apollo kids were not big on cleaning.

"Here's your bunk," said Will, showing her the bottom half of a bunk pushed against the wall. There were some nifty little crevices, shelves, and drawers at the base of the bed. A window was right between Mae's bunk and another bunk. Hanging where the curtains should have hung, a Nerf basketball hoop lay slightly crooked. Clothes and trash littered the place. Dart boards, Nerf hoops, and pictures lined the walls. Underneath each bunk bed, there was a pair of drawers.

"That's where you keep your stuff," said Will, pointing them out. Mae nodded and could not help grinning broadly. Her grandma described _her_ as _messy._ Mae unpacked her clothes and articles and crawled into bed. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten Addison.

Addison watched with envy as Mae was scooped up by the Apollo cabin and carted off. The night was getting late, and all hope for being claimed that night was melting away. The Hermes cabin welcomed him with open arms, however, and the feeling of loneliness only intensified. Addison fell asleep quickly but with one hand on his luggage.

"Thump. Thump. Mae's heartbeat pounded. An eery chant was following her as she sprinted through the woods at night.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death." chanted a woman, behind Mae. Please do not kill him, screamed Mae, inside her head.

"Don't kill him!" she screamed, at the woman. Black hair cascaded down the woman's shoulders.

"He must keep his oath," said the woman, with a twisted smile."

"No!" screamed Mae, bolting upright and slamming her head against the roof of her bunk bed. Remy stood beside her bed.

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes huge.

"My d-d-dream," stammered Mae, shaking and sweating with fear. She clutched her throbbing head. Without another word, Remy grabbed her hand and dragged her to the Big House. Addison approached form the other side being dragged by Travis Stoll. Chiron was on the porch.

"She had a dream," said Remy, at the exact time Travis said,

"He had a dream." they both looked at each other fearfully.

Three-

Mae and Addison were sitting on a couch in the ping-pong room. Mae was still wearing her flannel pants and white t-shirt from bed. Her hair had been french-braided, and she was not wearing her familiar headband. Her knees had been drawn up to her chest, and her arms encircled them. Her chin rested on her knees, and her eyes stared frozenly at the floor. For reasons unknown, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth had been summoned. Remy stood by Mae's side.

"What was your dream about?" asked Chiron, gently. Mae took a shaky breath.

"I was running through the woods and was being chased by a woman." began Mae. Remy comfortingly put a hand on her shoulder.

"She kept trying to hurt someone. A boy. I kept screaming something about not killing him. She also said something referring to seven half-bloods. It reminded me of a poem. A depressing one." said Mae, still staring at the floor.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death." recited Annabeth. Mae nodded.

"That was it. She claimed the boy that we were taking about had to keep his oath." she responded. Annabeth looked lost in thought.

"Was there anything about the woman that might give us a hint of who she is?" asked Annabeth. Mae thought long and hard.

"She looked like she was surfing on land. It was like she wasn't walking, and she sounded like she had just woken up." responded Mae. She saw a look of dread pass over everyone's faces.

"Gaea," said Piper, solemnly. Mae's brow wrinkled as she tried to remember who she was in Greek mythology.

"Mother Earth?" she guessed. Jason nodded mutely.

"What does she have to do with anything?" asked Mae.

"Earlier this summer, Gaea tried to awaken, and these three stopped her for the time being." explained Annabeth, nodding briefly at Jason, Piper, and Leo. Mae nodded.

"Why is that a bad thing though?" she asked.

"Gaea is trying to eliminate all the gods because she still resents them." said Annabeth, shortly. Mae nodded again while remembering the stories.

"Addison, what was your dream about?" asked Annabeth. He shifted uncomfortably with everyone's eyes on him.

"It was Mae, but she was surrounded by light. She kept stomping the earth, and there was a hammer trying to smash clay beetles that kept pouring out of the ground," said Addison.

"Mae and I are going to be the ones that stomp out Gaea," said Leo. Annabeth nodded slowly.

"The hammer stands for Hephaestus, and Leo is his son," she explained, to Addison who looked confused. There was a gasp around the room as a glowing hammer appeared above Addison's head.

"I think you have two more members to add to the group, Jason," said Chiron. They all kneeled.

"Hail, Addison Abbott, son of Hephaestus, god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths." said Chiron. Leo looked up smiling.

"Hey, brother," he joked, weakly.

It as still early in the morning when they set off.

"We could use a son of Poseidon, right about now," said Leo, steering the large boat. The boat was big enough for all six half-bloods to live comfortably. Mae was still having a hard time processing all of that information and found a little nook on the backside of the ship. It was not very big but neither was Mae. She watched the water trail behind the boat. A feeling of loneliness crept over her. As soon as Addison had gotten claimed, he had become distant. She had made a few friends at camp, but they were not gone. Annabeth was a little too uptight, and she did not know Piper very well. Jason was too hot to be a very good friend. She would be too nervous to even get a sentence out. Leo. Leo was funny and extremely nice, but he was with Addison. There was a faint scratching noise. Addison was climbing down to the little nick. Mae scooted over as much as possible. It was still a tight squeeze.

"Whatcha doing?" asked Addison, as thought he had not been ignoring Mae for the entire boat ride.

"Hey," she said, smiling a little. Addison was then struck with how beautiful she really was. Her braids had been let loose, and the ribbons hung down the back of her fiery, wavy hair. Her familiar headband held back her hair from her freckled face. She was wearing a plain white, v-neck shirt; dark jeans; her dingy, blue, gray, and yellow converse; and a dark blue windbreaker.

"I found this in the storage room," said Addison, holding out a beautiful dark blue scarf with light blue beads. Mae's dark blue eyes matched perfectly with it. Her smile was priceless. She took it slowly and gently wrapped it around her neck. Addison untucked her hair from the scarf and gently let it slide onto her back. Mae's voice deserted her.

"It's beautiful," she said, huskily. Addison smiled.

"Glad you think so," he said. All of a sudden, the day seemed a whole lot better.

"How far away are we from the other camp?" asked Mae, watching a fish dart away in the water.

"A couple of days," responded Addison. Mae glanced out of the corner of her eye at Addison. He had a strong jaw; milk chocolate brown eyes; and a tan face accented by his blond buzz cut. She had grown up with that face always hovering by while protecting her from all the mean kids. Because of his good looks, Addison was considered popular. Mae hung out with him and was considered "popular" as long as she was with him. It had always been hard to hang out with Addison at school since he was older, and all the girls considered Mae a threat. She got a threat to back away from him at least once a week. But still, Addison had kept her safe. Mae started to hum and gradually began to sing softly.

"When the sun goes down o'er Dublin town, the colors last for hours, oh, the lights come on, the night's a song, and the streets all turn to gold. A gentle mist all heaven kissed, like teardrops off an angel's wing, don't you know you'll cleanse your soul, with a walk in the Irish rain," sang Mae. Her voice echoed eerily off the walls of the rock walls surrounding the boat. Addison was speechless.

"Where did you learnt that song?" asked Addison.

"My grandma used to sing it to me when I was little. My family's Irish, you know," said Mae, smiling whimsically. Piper's head appeared over the top of the nook.

"Guys, we need you up top," said Piper. Her voice had an unspoken warning in it. Mae and Addison scrambled up to the top. The rock walls were widening out, but there was a too healthy looking plot of land in the middle of their path. The halfbloods stood uncertainly.

"Whatever it is, we should avoid it," said Mae. The others nodded in agreement, but as soon as they thought of it, it was like the island heard them. Whichever way they tried, the island blocked their exit.

"I don't like this," mumbled Annabeth. Mae could not help but agree with her. Beautiful palm trees dotted the white sands.

"We have to drag the boat across the island," said Leo. Mae glanced at the island. There was something dark and forbidding about that little island. She gulped.

"Leo, do you have wheels for this thing?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm a son of Hephaestus. I'm good at stuff like that." said Leo.

"Put 'em on," ordered Jason. Leo gave him a look.

"We're going to need to go as fast as possible across that sand," said Mae. Addison pulled a large crate filled with bits and pieces.

"I'll help," said Addison. Leo docked the boat, and they got out uneasily. Everyone stayed on the boat while Addison and Leo hooked up the wheels.

"This is making me nervous," said Jason. Piper took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Leo half glanced at Mae, but she was too busy scanning the woods. Same with Annabeth.

"Hurry up," snapped Annabeth, gripping her dagger. Leo did not even crack any jokes he was working so hard. When they finally finished, the other four jumped out and hauled the rope connected to the boat. They made slow progress, and everyone was drenched in sweat by the time the boat moved ten feet.

"You couldn't have made this thing any lighter?" gasped Jason. Leo rolled his eyes. No one's eyes left the tree-line. When they finally made it halfway, something shifted. Mae jolted and pressed the button on her headband. An arrow was notched on the string and aimed directly at the thing.

"It's a hippalectryon," said Annabeth. The thing had the foreparts of a rooster and the body of a horse. Four more stepped out.

"Will it eat us?" asked Mae.

"They are mostly tame," said Annabeth, a little uncertainly. A cyclops came out of the trees. An ugly snarl was etched on his face. More came pouring out of the trees.

"And then again, it wouldn't hurt to just, umm, get rid of a few. Over-population can get pretty serious," said Leo. Mae's arrows nailed two of the cyclops in the eye. They disintegrated. The teens put their backs into it and made much better time. One cyclops got extremely close. Somehow, he managed to avoid all the arrows that Mae shot. With a shriek, Mae ducked and rolled with some difficulty to the side as he struck. Her bow was too big for her to maneuver with. As if on cue, the bow shrank to a much more suitable size. Addison pulled out the wallet and pulled the golden card. It morphed into his battle axe. A scream echoed across the sandy dunes. Mae was shooting arrow after arrow into his body, but nothing was happening.

"Little girl, me wear armor. Arrow do not pierce." grunted the Cyclops, swinging his club. What they both mistook for his mottled skin was actually a strong hide used for armor.

"Aim for the head," shouted Annabeth, slashing her way through an army of hypalectryons. Mae did, but her arrow got embedded in his skull.

"Fancy helmet," grunted the cyclops, nearly stepping on her. Mae was getting desperate. Leo was frantically trying to remove the wheels so that they could get out of there, but he was too busy warding off the monsters to do so.

"Protect Leo and the ship!" shouted Addison, charging towards Mae. With agility beyond her years, Mae dodged a quick punch and rolled away to safety. This cyclops was slightly smarter than the average cyclops. He faked hitting her, and instead, he knocked her clean into a tree. Mae's arm twisted weirdly, and she landed with a grunt. Addison hacked through the horde and ran directly at the cyclops. Since the cyclops had pointed out the armor, it was easy to distinguish from the rest of his skin. Addison caught him off guard, and with a heavy swing, he cut his head off. The rest of the monster's body disintegrated. A blast of lighting eradicated the existence of the rest of the monsters. Addison rushed to Mae's side. Tears streaked her filthy face, and she was very pale. The freckles stood out sharply in contrast. She clutched her arm and moaned. Addison pressed the button on the side of the bow, and it returned to a headband. He replaced the headpiece and scooped her up in his arms. Leo had finally gotten the wheels off.

"Climb aboard," shouted Leo, glancing uneasily at the fringe of foliage. The half-bloods sprinted over to the boat as they heard a roar from the palm trees. They set sail. Dozens of Cyclops and their animals came rushing out of the woods too late.

"Worst island ever," muttered Leo, at the helm. No one responded. Mae was given some Nectar and Ambrosia to heal the arm. Everyone took showers and got changed while they silently waited until they faced their next deathly challenge. Mae was made to rest by Annabeth.

When Mae woke up, she walked up to the deck and surveyed the land around her. In the distance, Mae could make out a fringe of little islands. Her arm was feeling better, but it still twinged.

"Where are we?" asked Mae.

"We have to travel through the Sea of Monster," responded Annabeth. She looked grim.

"The Sea of Monsters? With the Sirens and stuff?" asked Mae, horrified. Annabeth nodded, but her face was slightly twisted as though she as thinking of something humorous.

"How the heck are we supposed to live? Better yet, why don't we avoid it?" asked Mae. Annabeth could not help but smile.

"You can't avoid it unless you don't want to reach the other side. The place is magic, and it will keep cropping up." said Annabeth.

"Remind me why we aren't taking the land route?" asked Mae.

"Because of Gaea, she would kill us much easier from there," said Annabeth, still smiling. Mae could not see what was so funny.

"What are you laughing at?" she demanded. Annabeth smiled a little more mournfully this time.

"Because you sound just like Percy," said Annabeth. She left Mae with a wide open mouth on the deck.

Addison gazed into the distance but could hear the steady murmur of voices from Mae and Annabeth. He smiled at Mae's questions and could imagine her face when she said those words. He turned to Leo.

"Hey, Leo, have you considered armor plating the sides of the ship?" asked Addison, trying to think of something other than Mae who accompanied his thoughts quite frequently lately. Leo grinned.

"That would be awesome!" said Leo, enthusiastically. The boys set to work while they sped onward towards the Sea of Monsters.

Jason stood puzzling over a map. Piper walked up behind him.

"What are you doing, Jason?" asked Piper.

"According to this map, we have to pass by the Sirens,and Scylla or Charybdis," said Jason. Worry filled his thoughts and creased his cute face. Piper glanced down at the map.

"How can you tell?" she asked, confused. Every letter swam out of focus.

"I'm Roman, remember? Latin is my language," said Jason. He rubbed his forehead and stared down at the paper.

"Come on. You need a break," urged Piper. Jason finally gave in and leaned up against the rail.

"How are we supposed to get past these creatures?" asked Jason. Piper did not know. She shrugged.

"I'm sure Annabeth will have thought of something," reassured Piper, laying a hand on his arm comfortingly. Jason nodded.

"Yeah, I'm glad someone else is here," he said. Piper felt a sharp jab at her heart. He acted like they had never done anything together. As if they had never had each other's backs. Jason's eyes widened when he realized how that came across.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Piper," he said, turning to her. "I didn't mean it like that." Piper nodded but still felt miserable. It only confirmed her fears that Jason did not really need her. Mae walked up.

"Guys, in order to avoid the Sirens, we need to plug our ears with wax," said Mae, holding out a handful of wax. They gingerly took it. After plugging their ears, they waited to pass by the Sirens. They were not very beautiful, but they had their charm. Mae could not hear their voices. Such a surge of an overwhelming desire to pull them out overtook her. Without thinking, Mae attempted to pull an earplug out. Addison saw her hand go up, and he jumped across the deck. Mae hit the deck with Addison on top. He gripped her offending hand. Realization dawned on Mae's face, and she mouthed thank you. Addison kept her hands pinned to her side but let her get up. Piper gazed at Mae being held by Addison and felt a pang of jealousy. Mae did not even like the guy, and he was holding her. At least, she pretended not to like him. They sailed by, and Piper turned around to go down below deck. Tears were streaming down Annabeth's face as she stared without really seeing the Sirens. Piper was startled. Annabeth disappeared below deck.

Four-

Once they were past the Sirens, they unplugged their ears.

"That was fun," said Leo, dryly, taking the helm. Addison seemed to realize that he was still holding Mae. He released her and walked quickly over to Leo. Mae began to help Piper and Jason with the tying down of luggage on deck.

"Where's Annabeth?" asked Jason, tying down a barrel. Piper looked nervously at the doorway.

"She went below deck," said Piper, covering for her. Annabeth came up from below deck. She was holding Jason's map.

"Gather round," ordered Annabeth. You would have never guessed that she had been bawling her eyes out only minutes before.

"Here is Charybdis, and here is Scylla," said Annabeth. "We barely made it out alive last time when we attempted to go past Charybdis. Since we now have a charm-speaker and a singer, we can try Scylla," said Annabeth. Mae frowned.

"First of all, what can the singer do? And secondly, Scylla has dog heads for legs that have an infatuation with destroying things. How do you propose we stop her?" asked Mae. Annabeth eyed Mae as if she were trying to analyze her. Which would not be the first time she had done that. Appearing satisfied, Annabeth continued.

"It's not what a singer does, it's what you do." said Annabeth, staring at Mae. Her eyebrows drew together.

"What are you talking about?" asked Mae.

"I heard you singing earlier, Mae. Your singing is like a charm-speak in and out of itself. I could feel myself paying attention to your song instead of my mapping of our exact whereabouts," explained Annabeth, growing excited. Mae nodded miserably and stared at Piper.

"Piper, you and Mae are going to sing and charm-speak the monster as we safely pass," said Annabeth. Her eyes glowed with excitement.

"Okay," they agreed, reluctantly. Annabeth beamed and clapped her hands.

"Great, now let's get going," she said.

"Everyone else, below deck!" she said, scooping up the map and bustling below deck.

"Are you sure you can drive this boat below deck?" called out Annabeth's voice, from the darkness.

"Yes!" insisted Leo, rolling his eyes wearily and following Jason and Addison down. Addison turned to give Mae a smile before he disappeared. Mae turned back around to Piper. They both smiled and nervously turned to the fast approaching wall of stone.

"I'm terrified," admitted Mae. Piper merely nodded not trusting her voice.

"I'm pretty sure that my singing is not going to affect anything," muttered Mae. Piper steeled herself.

"You sing a lullaby, and I'll send them to sleep," said Piper. Mae nodded slowly and heard a ferocious yapping before she saw the ugly brutes.

"Crap," she muttered. Before the dogs had a chance to tear the ship in half, Mae began to sing. Her voice floated almost lazily through the air and calmed the raging beasts. A soft breeze tickled the canines. Piper's voice was calm and reassuring in the background. The dogs' eyelids began to grow heavy and droop. All was going well until a massive female head appeared.

"Wake up!" demanded the female head. The dogs snarled to life. Annabeth must have realized what was going on. Everyone swarmed from below deck. Mae's voice sounded a little shaky, but she still sang on. Piper continued to charm-speak the dogs, but that was the only thing keeping them from eating them immediately.

"Leo! Got any tricks up your sleeve?" demanded Annabeth, running up to the helm.

"Jason, zap Scylla's face to make her shut up," snapped Annabeth. She and Leo ran up to the helm and began to steer them away. Jason held up his hand, and a lightening bolt rained down hit her face. Scylla shrieked, but even that was not enough to startle the dogs.

"Leo!" said Annabeth, in a frantic tone. "What plan is there to get us out of here faster?" Addison came bounding up.

"I installed Greek fire under a panel that runs underwater. If I can activate it at the right time, we can blast ourselves out of here," said Addison. Annabeth grinned.

"Just the thing we need," she said. Just when Piper and Mae could not sing/ charm-speak anymore, Addison found the lever, and a roar issued from underwater. The dogs howled and gnashed the water with their teeth in anger as they soared to safety.

"Won't be long now," said Annabeth. There was a tinge of excitement in her voice. Piper and Jason exchanged a knowing glance. Everyone went below to get some rest.

"You're going to fail your quest, young Hero," said a sleepy voice. Mae was running through the woods again. The darkness cast eerie, ghostly shadows that seemed to stretch on the ground for miles. Heart pounding, Mae ran towards a large gap in the ground. Do not kill him, she pleaded, in her head. There was a figure sprawled near the hole. Despite her vain efforts in sprinting to get there, the whole began to swallow him up. Do not kill, begged Mae, squeezing her eyes shut painfully recalling a memory so vivid that she collapsed. Mae could feel the sharp leaves crackle as she crawled along the crawled along the earthen floor. The coolness of the dirt did little for her nerves. A smell was mixed with the dry, musty smell of the fallen leaves. It made Mae's insides twist painfully, and she gagged. Tears mingled with the dirt covering her face. She could not get her breath, and she felt her muscles freeze. Panic seized her throat and numbed her tongue.

"Don't kill him!" she screamed, half sobbed. There was a dark chuckle that shook the ground."

Mae woke up drenched in sweat. Her breath came in short, raspy gasps. It took her awhile to calm down. She climbed down from her hammock and crawled up to the deck. She climbed down to the little nook where she liked to sit and stared at the ocean. Shivering slightly because of the attire of a t-shirt and loose grey sweat-pants, Mae brushed a strange of vibrant colored hair out of her face. She was not entirely sure about the idea of everyone sleeping while they were still in the Sea of Monsters, but she trusted that Leo and Addison had fixed something for that occasion. Mae gazed down at her reflection. A beautiful nymph gazed back at her, and with a flick of her fishtail, she disappeared. A faint song tugged at the tip of Mae's tongue. The lyrics reminded of her of the girl staring back at her.

'Look at me/ I will never pass for a perfect bride/or a perfect daughter/ can it be I'm not meant to play this part?/ now I see that if I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart/ who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?/ Why is my reflection someone I don't know?/ Somehow I cannot hide who I am, thought I've tried/ when will my reflection show, who I am inside?/ When will my reflection show, who I am inside?" sang Mae. Her image flickered when an unknown bug skimmed the surface causing her reflection to shudder and blur. As the last note died away with a sudden gust of wind, Mae suddenly felt very alone. She could feel the sting of tears welling up inside. She scrunched her knees up to her chest and stared moodily out into the water.

"You cold?" asked a voice, above her. Her frenched braid fell off of its sitting place on her back as she turned her head. Addison was slowly descending, and he had brought his football jacket. He sat down next to her on the narrow sitting place. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweat-pants too. Addison quietly stared at the way the moon flickered across the water smoothly. Mae was enveloped in his jacket and up against him. They were so close that Addison could feel her breathing next to him.

"Pretty dangerous place for a half-blood," said Mae, finally breaking the silence. Addison nodded in his quiet, humble way.

"I've missed you," said Mae, quietly. Addison turned to look at her with raised eyebrows. Mae was not the sentimental type.

"What do you mean?" asked Addison, surprised.

"You've been spending so much time with Leo that I've missed having you around," said Mae, sincerely. Something in Addison felt glad.

"Really? 'Cause you've kind of disappeared as well," said Addison. Mae's temper flared slightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hurt by his words.

"It's like what you said," said Addison, frowning at Mae while wondering what she was getting upset about.

"You've been with Annabeth and Piper all this time, but you haven't spent any time with me. It's like you've forgotten me completely." said Addison. Something welled up in Mae. Was it anger? Hurt? Her eyes filled with tears. She forced herself to speak.

"Addison, I think you're just jealous because I now actually have more than just one friend," snapped Mae. She hated that her tears were spilling over, and her anger was making her words shake.

"That's not it, Mae! Don't be such a girl about this! I am not getting jealous over the fact that you have friends. I'm just saying that you've neglected me is all." said Addison, who was getting angry. Mae stood up so fast that she lost her balance on the narrow board. With a splash, Mae landed in the water. Her head emerged from the water, and she gasped for air. Addison leaned over and dragged her back up to the board. Mae crawled as quickly away from Addison as possible. Sopping wet, Mae ignored Addison's calls behind her and ran below deck. After quickly showering off and changing, Mae cried herself to sleep. Addison stared out at the water. A deep well of emotions were swelling inside his chest so hard that his chest hurt. What had he done to offend Mae? Thought Addison, bitterly to himself. A change was boiling inside him and wanted to get out. He liked Mae. It was as simple as that. He had not known until she had stormed away how much he really liked her. The way she did anything was so different than all the others. Earlier that day when he gave her the scar he had found, he had realized how beautiful she was. He found himself daydreaming about what could have happened under the moonlight if she had not taken what he had said personally. When he closed his eyes, Addison could imagine her big, blue eyes.

"Aphrodite, why?" asked Addison, aloud under the stars.

"Did you just say something about Aphrodite?" asked Piper, sleepily at the doorway. She had gone to get a glass of water and heard Addison. All of his previous anger resurfaced, and he did not respond to Piper as he brushed past her. He could not stand Piper for some reason. Charm-speak seemed to be cheating, Addison thought to himself. He crawled into bed with Piper's last words echoing in his mind.

"Did something happen between you and Mae?" she asked. Addison wanted to scream yes in her face.

"Yes! Of course! But not the kind that you're talking about," Addison wanted to scream.

"Because she is in the shower crying, and you look like you just got hit a train." she added. "Horrible." she clarified, as if he had not gotten her meaning. Addison just kept his grim facial expression on his face as he walked back to his room.

The morning, Addison walked up above deck. Everyone was already above deck. Addison glanced at Mae, but she avoided his gaze. She stood next to Annabeth and Piper. Addison felt like he was swallowing a rock. Piper cooly observed them. Addison absentmindedly fiddled with his necklace.

"Mae had another dream last night," said Annabeth. Addison cast a glance at Mae. She stared purposefully at the map in front of her instead of meeting his gaze. Mae, without looking up, recounted her dream.

"Being the daughter of Apollo, I believe this is a dream that foretold the future," said Annabeth, tapping the hilt of the dagger.

"Who is the "him" in her dream?" asked Addison. Annabeth looked at the three guys.

"Any of you guys," said Annabeth. Everyone looked at each other uneasily. Especially the guys.

"How exactly did this guy get out of this mess," said Leo. Annabeth hit him with her stormy gaze.

"Who said he did?" she challenged. Mae barely met Leo's gaze before looking back down.

"I-I didn't see how it turned out. I woke up," said Mae, trembling slightly.

Five-

Leo looked like he had just gotten sucker-punched. he tapped the table with his knuckles and turned away quickly.

"I'm going to go check the engines," said Leo, disappearing below deck. Annabeth's searching gaze followed him while Piper searched Mae's face. Mae cleared her throat and disappeared down to her nook on the back of the ship. Addison was left with the rest of the group. He suddenly felt the need to be alone and left the remaining three behind him. He climbed up the mast and gazed put onto the water. He had messed up. Mae was not even looking at him. The salty breeze hit his tan face, and he spotted the shore. They had drifted through all he islands in the Sea of Monsters and now were almost at their destination.

"Annabeth!" Addison yelled, down to her. Her head snapped up.

"What?" she demanded. Addison pointed to the slowly but surely upcoming shore. She walked over to the railing and gazed out.

"The Bay area is just further along the coast," said Annabeth, pointing out some pointed rocks. The ship groaned as Leo switched gears to alter the course to the position indicated.

"Mae, Leo, report to deck in an hour," snapped Annabeth, and she disappeared down the hull. Addison crawled up to the only spot on the ship where he could see the nook where Mae sat. She was completely curled up and was staring blankly at the water. Addison heard a scraping noise behind him. He turned to see Leo crawling up beside him.

"Hey," he said, faintly.

"Why'd you pick this particular spot to sit?" asked Leo, curiously. Addison pointed down to Mae's little body. Leo's eyebrows went up.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" asked Leo. Addison shook his head.

"I messed up," he replied. His jaw clenched when he saw Mae brush her eye as if she were crying. Leo pursed his lips, but then opened his mouth as if to crack a joke. Complete silence followed. He got up and gave Addison a little pat on the back.

"Hope it works out for you, man," said Leo, crawling down the mast. Addison gave Mae one last look and descended down after Leo.

Later that day, Addison saw their destination coming towards them.

"Jason!" he shouted. Instead of only Jason coming to the side, everyone swarmed up the deck. Everyone's eyes grew huge as they saw it.

"We're here," murmured Jason, faintly. Leo began shouting orders, and the racket began. The entire ship shuddered to a stop before reaching shore.

"We'll have to take the longboat out to shore and swim back," said Annabeth. Annabeth answered their questions swirling around in their minds before they had a chance to speak them.

"If we take the ship to shore, chances are we'll never get it out of the ground. Gaea will see to that. We'll have to swim back because the longboat will probably disappear while we are gone," explained Annabeth. Jason gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Glad to have you along, Annabeth," he said, and moved on. Piper bit her lip and followed Jason like a puppy. Addison half-glanced at Mae, but she was asking Leo something. He followed Annabeth, Jason, and Piper down to the boat and was shortly followed by the other two. They paddled quickly to the shore, and Annabeth secured the boat.

"Have everything?" she checked. Everyone mutely nodded and followed her up the steep incline. It was not long before they were sweaty and tired from climbing up such a steep slope. What made matters worse, however, was the constant tug of ground under their feet. Each step felt like they were running a marathon in a snowstorm.

"At least Khione isn't blasting us with an ice storm right now," said Leo, brightly. An icy wind whistled over the mountainside chilling them. Annabeth's teeth chattered.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" snapped Annabeth, crossly. Mae looked up at the sky that was steadily turning darker.

"I'm not sure that was her," said Mae. Her voice oddly stilted. Addison followed her gaze. The sky was getting blacker by the second.

"We need to find shelter soon," said Addison. Annabeth found a suitable cave, and they huddled in it while the sky let loose.

"Piss off any rain gods lately?" asked Addison, sarcastically. Mae forgot her anger long enough to glare at him. Addison took to staring at the floor instead of Mae. A constant ache filled his chest.

"There aren't any rain gods," said Leo, suddenly. Piper screwed up her mouth in concentration.

"There's Ouranos, the Sky god," began Piper.

"But there's also Zeus, the god of the sky," added Jason.

"Why would either want to be trying to slow us down?" asked Annabeth. There was a pause interrupted only by the distant pitter-patter of rain.

"Let's get some sleep," suggested Piper. She did not need charm-speak for it to sound appealing to them. Without answering, they huddled together and gradually fell asleep.

" Gaea will not sleep unless you come to see me. She does not know that I know her weakness." boomed a deep voice. Addison could not see anything. Everything was a dark blue. Two stars began to sparkle and shine brightly. Addison peered closer. They were the eyes of this great thing.

"Who are you?" demanded Addison, covering his eyes from the glare.

"You will find me, young Hero. Ask the one whom you love. Apollo has indeed blessed her." answered the deep voice, that radiated strength. There was a strangled cry from the direction of the eyes." Addison woke with a start. He sat rubbing the sleep from his eyes while trying to figure out what was missing. _The noise,_ he realized. He peered through the darkness and saw no rain. He could not hear it either. _It stopped_, he realized. He got up as much as the ceiling allowed.

"Guys, we need to get up and go now," said Addison, breaking their sleep. All of the half-bloods piled out of their corner where they had been huddled and trekked out into the night. It was rough going at night and through the massive amount of mud. Mae seemed to be having a harder time than the rest. Due to her height, Mae was nearly knee-deep in the mud. Addison swallowed his pride and doubled back.

"Mae," he said, to get her attention. She looked up at him with her beautiful eyes. Addison cupped his hands together and motioned up. Her gaze froze as she battled what to do. She finally came to a conclusion and gingerly stuck a muddy Converse into his hand and climbed piggy-back style onto his back. Addison was a bit more sturdy in the mud than Mae was, and in no time at all, he had covered the distance it would have taken her several minutes to cross in two strides. With this sturdy gait, the teens reached the bottom of their last hill/ mountain in several hours. Jason wiped the sweat off his brow and examined the rocky terrain.

"Jason, do you remember where the camp is?" asked Annabeth. Hope filled her voice as she scanned the plain.

"Not at all," he answered. There was a massive amount of dead looking trees in the distance.

"How about over there?" suggested Leo, pointing to the large, dead wood.

"It's a start," said Piper, tiredly walking towards their new destination.

Mae had long since gotten off of Addison's back and was now walking beside him. In the darkness, it was hard to make out much about their surroundings. A long screech startled the halfbloods to the point where they all jumped about a foot in the air each. Addison glanced down to his coat sleeve that was wrinkled and drawn up because Mae's cold fingers were digging into his arm. She flushed and let go slightly disturbed by Addison's facial expression. The screech had made them all jumpy, and they huddled in a closer knit group more than they had before. Suddenly, the wind picked them all up and tossed them about like scattered leaves. Mae let out a shriek when she caught sight of a massive, black hole. It was the one from her dreams. She just knew it.

"Stay away from that hole!" shouted Mae, over the violent gusts of wind. Everyone grabbed the nearest dead tree and inched their way away from the hole. It was awhile before they finally collapsed completely worn out but safe from the pulling hole.

"Reminds me of Tartarus," muttered Annabeth, staring at it darkly. The other did not even respond. No one asked permission to rest. They all just rolled over and fell asleep.

"Who are you?" demanded an angry sounding voice. Everyone's eyes flew open to the bright, harsh rays of the sun. Their weapons had been confiscated. By a small army of battle-scarred teens. Their leader held his dagger to the throat of Annabeth. Somehow he had singled Annabeth out as the deadliest threat. Smart move. Addison stared at the leader. Annabeth raked her gaze over the lot of them. Judging by their gold weapons, stiff mannerisms, and kilted armor, Annabeth guessed that they were from the Roman camp.

"You're the Roman camp," she said. Everyone sat up. The leader squinted as if sizing her up.

"Get up," he ordered. He cast a backwards glance towards Addison.

"Release your girlfriend, dude," ordered the leader. He stared directly at Addison, and Addison was embarrassed to find that Mae had somehow fallen asleep in his arms, and his arms were still encircling her. He withdrew them quickly and scrambled to his feet. The leader's eyes swept their faces, until his gaze landed on Jason.

"Jason!" he cried, relief washing over his face. He rushed forward and nearly tackled Jason.

'Bobby!" cried Jason, with joy. A grin breaking over his tan, good-looking face. There was a stir as the Roman teens all broke their stiff, unhappy expression and swarmed over Jason. One girl broke rank and rushed forward. Her brown curls flying.

"Jason! I thought you were dead!" she yelled, in a boyish manner and tackled him. When she came up, her brown eyes were dancing on a very freckled face. A purple shirt covered her torso and torn jeans her legs. Piper eyed the girl as if she were sizing her up, but something relaxed in her expression.

"Gwendolyn!" he exclaimed, smiling wider. Her expression turned sour. She jammed her spear tip up against his chin.

"That's Lynn to you, buddy-boy," she snapped, with narrowed eyes. Within a minute, she was back to her good-natured self. Piper looked confused, and Mae could not blame her.

"Where's Hazel?" asked Jason, to Lynn. She jammed a finger behind her.

"Back at camp," she answered. She peered closely at Jason's face like he had forgotten something. "Reyna is also back at camp," she added. Jason nodded nonchalantly, and Piper heard something in Lynn's voice. She eyed Jason at the same time Lynn did. Neither could read his face.

"Where have you been?" asked Bobby, breaking the girl examination of Jason's face. Greek teens melted into the pack and moved as one unit.

"I'll tell you that when we get back to camp," said Jason, looking pleased to see his friends but a little distracted at the same time. Piper stuck to his side like a faithful puppy. The walking to the camp was somewhat difficult since they had to swim across the lake to the middle island. The brush was so thick that you could only get through one space around the entire island. They trudged through it, and Jason instinctively ducked as an arrow sped over his head.

"Booby-trapped. Duck here." said Jason, shuffling forward while crouched down. He led them through the maze of precautions set against intruders. When they finally came to a clearing, the Greeks were stunned. The Roman camp sprawled out over a broad, grassy green hill. Erect, white tents were primly set up orderly in rows. They looked decent sized, but once you got in them, they were huge. Jason was led to his tent first.

"You can stay in mine," offered Jason, but was interrupted by a growl. They all turned around quickly to see a massive wolf growling at them. Without thinking, Jason snapped his heels together and very robotic, swung his closed fist against his chest. He gave a short bow.

"Pitch your own tent, Greeks. That is, after you've proven yourself in the Arena. You're only as strong as your weakest link," growled Lupa. Mae gulped. Jason looked uneasily at his friends as they followed Lupa to a dirt encirclement. A boy was busy stripping his purple t-shirt off and applying chalk to his hands on the other side.

"Mae Jordan," Lupa said. Mae took a hesitant step forward and stepped into the arena. The boy turned around with a sneer. Mae gawked at his ripped abdomen and bulging arms. Addison watched with horror as she took off her jacket and scar and handed them to Piper. Addison started forward, but Jason caught him. A silent exchange of understanding crossed between the two boys. Addison reluctantly stepped back. Lupa focused her attention on Mae and the boy. With a snarl from Lupa, the fight began. Mae's bouncy pigtails leapt around as she nimbly avoided the guy's rod. It was obvious that he was an Ares kid with his ferocious teammates and rough attitude. It all went downhill when his rod grew a blade. Mae's leg was slit open upon impact. Limping, Mae could not out run him and fell with the blade at her throat.

"Mae!" shouted Addison, lunging forward.

Six-

Addison was caught by all his friends and dragged back.

"Don't," warned Jason, in Addison's ear. The boy held the blade to her neck, and slowly a grin spread across his face. Mae clutched her leg and slowly mended it while the boy was getting cocky. Suddenly, the boy's chuckle became a hoarse cry as a blinding light blasted him in the eye. It all happened so fast that even Lupa had trouble seeing it. Mae pressed the button to her headband, and it transformed while she kicked his legs out from under him. While he was falling, she kicked herself off of the ground and aimed down at the boy. Two were let loose and pinned him to the ground by his leather bracers. She flipped through the air and drew two arrows from her pouch. Clutching two arrows, Mae landed on top of his chest and crossed the points of the arrows along his throat. She was practically nose to nose with him. Her chest heaved with the exertion of the battle as she panted. Her braids had come loose and hung about her face in a wildfire of blazing red. _Gods_, thought Addison, _she looks so beautiful right now_. Lupa's mouth curled into a grim smile as she watched Mae help up the ripped boy covered in sweat and dirt. Lupa gracefully soared over the railing and landed in the middle of the arena.

"Samuel, showers after you run the gauntlet," ordered Lupa. The boy's good-looking face hardened. He mimicked Jason's earlier bow and walked away but not before looking back at Mae and giving her a half smile. Addison watched with horror as she smiled back before turning to Lupa.

"Apparently, your team is strong," said Lupa, drily. Mae gave an uneasy nod and waited.

"Showers, then set up your tent. We eat at nightfall," said Lupa, before turning around and leaving them. Annabeth shot her a look and opened her mouth. Jason clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up. Lupa is testing your patience. She knows that you have something important to ask. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. Usually, she waits longer, but I think she is too curious to see why the gods have allowed us to find the Roman camp." said Jason. Annabeth shut her mouth and nodded while keeping her eyes trained on Lupa's disappearing figure.

"Showers are this way," said Jason, leading the way.

Apparently, the kids at the Roman camp had a very strict schedule that everyone kept to. There were three open stalls for each gender as they walked into the showers.

"This is creepy," muttered Annabeth, to Piper and Mae.

"At the Greek camp, there are at least ten girls fighting for the stalls at one time because some idiot took too long in the showers, and now their shower time has been shortened. Here, it's like everyone has to be on time for everything. Did you see how spotless the grounds looked? We had to have a litter patron, our's got so bad." said Annabeth, eyeing the Romans as though they were from another planet.

"If I had Lupa as my head director, I'd stay punctual too," said Mae. The other two snickered as they climbed into the shower stalls.

"EEEHHIIAAH!" squealed Mae, shooting out of the shower stall clad in only a towel. Some of the Roman girls looked up from their dressing or finishing touches.

"What's the matter?" asked one girl, alarmed.

"The-e-e w-w-water i-is s-s-so c-cold-d," said Mae, through chattering teeth. The girls laughed, but Piper, and Annabeth soon got a taste of the freezing water when it hit them.

"Cold showers are the only kind allowed here," explained one girl, tucking away a hair-dryer. It did not take long to set up the tents and get completely cleaned up. Apparently, the boys had gotten the cold shower treatment as well, and all three of them were shivering slightly as they all met up after showers. The kids were friendly enough, but there was an air of frostiness that seemed to block the Romans from the Greeks like a brick wall. In Lupa's presence, smiling and laughter seem to flee while masks of indifference settled over their faces while they quietly ate. Each Greek had been placed at their respective parent's table alongside the Romans. Try as they might, no one had seen Percy yet. Reyna had greeted Jason when he came in but that preoccupied look covered his face again. Piper paused only to stare at Reyna. The girl had blond streaked, brown hair that was tired up in a messy bun. She had a quirky, little mouth and light blue eyes. She was really pretty and willowy thin. Piper was average height and was an appropriate height for Jason. Reyna was nearly as tall as he was. Her anxious suggested that she had been more than a friend to Jason. Piper eyed her like a dog eyes a cat. Mae looked in surprise at all the Apollo table. The Greek cabin back home was a great deal bigger than the camp here. Apollo, as well as several others, was a very large cabin. Here, there were maybe five kids sitting at the sun emblazoned table. Jason's table was empty save for his own seat, and Addison and Leo's table only seated two others. They were both girls, and they were too busy eating things from a constructed device to notice them. The Ares cabin, Athena's cabin, and Apollo's cabin were very small. Of course, Hermes's and Aphrodite's cabins were full to bursting, but the other regulars were not. Nike must have had to least a dozen, and Eris had about the nine kids in their cabin. Demeter must have been busy in recent years because all the kids were under thirteen, and there were about eight of them. Piper sat down with her vast family. There was a clink of glass as the best piece of food was dropped into a glass bowl. The green flames licked it up, and extinguished itself. The tradition was very similar to that of Camp Half-Blood, but there was no laughter. The Greek teens quickly finished their food and waited until Lupa gave them the floor.

"Jason, tell us why you have come back with these godlings," demanded Lupa. Everyone's eyes went to Jason.

"Annabeth can explain it better," said Jason, directing all the attention to the pretty blond at the Athena table.

"My boyfriend Percy Jackson is missing from our camp, and we have reason to believe that Jason and Percy were exchanged. Jason was at our camp, so it stands to reason that Percy has to be here, and that is why we came," said Annabeth, shortly. Her piercing gray eyes swept the room like Percy was going to pop out.

"Percy Jackson left our camp several weeks ago."said Lupa. "He went off to stop Polybotes from rising." Annabeth stood transfixed at Lupa. A look of horror was etched on her face. Piper slowly inched her way across the small mess tent and pulled her away.

"You might as well stay the night," said Lupa, getting up and leaving. As soon as she left, there was a more relaxed aura surrounding the camp. As for the Greeks, they were still trying to process what they were going to do next. Mae headed back to her tent, and the rest soon followed.

Addison lay awake for quite some time until he could not bear it any longer. He quietly exited his tent and somehow found the girls' tent. (The girls' tents were separated from the boys' tents. There were technically two tents of each godly parent.) The lamp glowed warmly and cast an inviting glow inside the plain white tent. Piper was staring mournfully at her reflection in her dagger, and Annabeth was-or at least pretending to be- fast asleep. There was no sign of Mae. Before Addison could ask where Mae was, Piper jerked a finger in the direction of the woods. Addison smiled in thanks and headed towards the thick fringe that encircled the island. Even though nothing could get on the island with the thick, overgrown vegetation in the way, there was still a guard patrol. Addison managed (barely) to slip past the guard and into the woods. Following the sound of murmuring voices, Addison finally found Mae, but she was not alone. The ripped guy from the fight earlier was with her. Except for now, he had a white bandage nearly swallowing his whole right arm. A few cuts and bruises that marred his face were not there from Mae's fight. Addison vaguely remembered Lupa saying something about running the gauntlet when he had lost. Addison crept forward to hear better. They were talking about football. Go figure. The boy was apparently impressed by her vast knowledge of the sport and kept getting closer and closer to her. At one point, he was a mere inch away from her face. One hand hesitatingly hovered near her face as if to brush away a lock of rogue hair. Addison could not bear it any longer. He stepped out from his hiding place in the trees.

"Mae, I was just looking for you," he said, to alert them of his presence. Mae looked startled as she and the boy jumped apart.

"Umm, what for?" she asked, blushing furiously.

"I-I need to talk to you alone," said Addison, quickly before he lost his nerve. Mae nodded and gave Samuel a shy smile. Addison grimaced inside and led the way back to the girls' tent. When they reached the tent, Mae turned to Addison and stared at him expectantly. Addison's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Mae's eyebrows rose slightly, and a smirk graced her face. She turned around and entered her tent. The air exhaled out of Addison's lungs, and he realized that he had been holding his breath. Feeling like a coward, Addison turned around towards the boys' tent inwardly cursing himself for being so weak. The tent flap opened back up, and Mae appeared.

"Addy," said Mae, holding out his football jacket. "Here," she offered. Addison slowly took the jacket but did not say anything. She turned back around to go inside once more, but Addison grabbed her arm.

"Mae," he said, pausing to think of what to say. "I-I'm not good with words. I mean, like, not at all. But I am truly sorry for being such a jerk the other night. Trust me when I say that I'm really sorry for what I said and wish that I'd never said any of that." Mae's eyes went all blurry and foggy.

"Ad," she began. Addison shook his head. Moving in closer, Addison stared down at her upturned face. Every freckle was highlighted by the faint moonlight.

"It was all my fault," he said, softly. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face.

"And I didn't mean anything by telling you to stop being such a girl." he added. They were so close. Smiling faintly, Addison resisted the urge to kiss her and walked away. Mae watched his retreating figure slowly descending down the slope. She brushed the tear away and smiled now that she had her best friend in the whole world back. Despite what Addison felt, Mae was still under the vague impression that what they had was a really good friendship and nothing more.

As soon as Addison had left, Piper had sheathed her dagger and headed towards Mercury's tent. Reyna obviously took great care of herself because when Piper went to look for her, her makeup table was loaded with creams and lotions.

"Reyna went off to talk to someone," said a small, Indian looking girl. Piper smiled in thanks and left the tent. She bet she knew who Reyna was talking to. It was not long before Piper found the tent of Jupiter. Sure enough, she heard voices.

"-Jason, please, remember me!" begged Reyna. There was a pause like Jason was trying to.

"Reyna, I lost my memories and just now got them back," began Jason. "I remember we had something, but there's still something missing." Reyna was silent. Probably pouting.

"Jason, is it because you like someone else?" asked Reyna, her voice whiny. Piper's breath froze in her chest. She peeked through the slit in the side of the tent. Reyna was extremely close to Jason.

"N–" began Jason, but stopped. "I mean-" It was strange seeing Jason at a loss for words.

"It's that girl Piper, isn't it?" demanded Reyna, crossing her arms across her chest. Piper could not breath. Was it possible? She wondered faintly. Hope fluttered around in her chest.

"Remember, Jason, who you picked first," she said, very determinedly. Jason nodded, and the confusion on his face seemed to disappear. Piper's hopes plummeted as she saw Reyna make her move. Her lips pressed themselves against Jason's as she took his less confused facial expression to mean he had picked her. Piper kept back a sob, but something made her pause. When Reyna hugged him after the kiss, Jason looked miserable and slightly sick. As soon as Reyna let go of him to look at his face, Jason mustered a smile to cover his uncomfortable position. Piper sneaked back to her tent where Mae and Annabeth were dead to the world. Crawling under the covers, Piper let a few tears fall but then steely set herself straight. She closed her eyes and miraculously fell asleep quickly. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.

Seven

Mae opened the tent flap and observed the camp. Never had she seen all the camp awake at this hour. Squinting up at the sun, Mae was wondering if her clock was messed up. Thanks to her dad being god of the sun, Mae could read the time of day by the sun quite well. It was the time she thought it was. Weird. Piper and Annabeth were awakened by the loud trumpeting of the camp bugle. Piper's hair was sticking in a hundred different directions, and Annabeth's hair was a blond, curly Afro.

"Get ready quickly," said Mae, scooping up what small amount of luggage she had brought and stuffing it in her backpack. It was not long before each girl had gotten ready and joined the boys at the tent. Reyna was all over Jason during breakfast. Jason was completely miserable. Even the others could see it. There was a lot of snickering from the Hermes cabin. So much so that Annabeth shot the whole table such a loathsome glare that they shut up immediately. Mae was busily chatting away with everyone and seemed in the best mood. Annabeth ordered the others to eat quickly, and they soon took their leave. Samuel was very anxious for Mae to say goodbye, and she disappeared soon after breakfast. Annabeth packed the rest of their luggage and sent Addison off to find Mae. He found them in the exact same location as before. Samuel was so close to Mae that Addison wanted to hurl. He entered the clearing quickly to stop Samuel from making a move.

"Mae, time to go," said Addison. Mae nodded but look slightly preoccupied while listening to Samuel talk to her in low tones. Samuel gave Addison an irritated glance as he stooped down and kissed Mae on the cheek. Mae smiled back at Samuel as Addison grumpily dragged her away. Her cheeks were bright red as the two finally made it back to the group. Addison had a murderous look of mutiny on his face while Mae had a dazed expression splashed on her face. Annabeth hid a grin.

"Let's go, shall we?" snapped Addison, through gritted teeth. Annabeth nodded and waved at the Romans. Reyna kissed Jason on the lips as he attempted to de-tangle himself from her grasp. Looking slightly taken back, Jason merely looked uncomfortable as Lupa gave her parting words.

"Be careful, young Heroes," was all the she-wolf said. Jason did that ridiculous bow that he kept doing, and the group with the help of Jason made it out of the booby trapped trail off the island. The only place that Lupa had been able to tell them that Percy had headed north.

"I hate north," muttered Leo. The others looked at him strangely. The North was especially disliked by Leo because of his previous encounter with Khione and what she did to his beloved dragon. Metal dragon, mind you. It took them the rest of the day to get back to their ship. It seemed even longer when Leo was brooding about their upcoming destination, and Addison was still grumpy about Mae being kissed on the cheek by someone other than himself. Piper had not spoken a word yet, and Annabeth was scheming where Percy could have gone. Jason was lost in thought. Besides Mae-who was bouncing up in down with happiness and seemed oblivious to all the pain being suffered around her-, the party was pretty morose.

The boys were all below deck, and the girls had manned the upper deck. Mae, tired of playing Solitaire by herself, got up and looked for something to do. Addison was just coming up on deck, and Mae bounced over to him.

"Hey, Ad-" began Mae, but she was cut off by the intense waves of anger from Addison. Mae looked taken back.

"What did I do?" she demanded, as Addison gave her an irritated look. Addison grunted and walked down below deck.

"Why don't you ask Samuel?" growled Addison. Mae heard a snort and a snicker behind her. A flash of irritation spiked her blood. She whirled around. Annabeth and Piper were trying not to show that they were amused.

"What?" she demanded, throwing her hands up in the air. Piper hid a smile behind her hand.

"You are so clueless about boys." she replied. A line appeared between Mae's eyebrows as she stared in confusion at Piper. Piper rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to be the goddess of love's daughter to realize he's got it bad for you." said Piper, smirking and then added as if an afterthought. "I would take Addison over Samuel any day, though." Mae's face got so red you could have fried an egg on it. Mae's temper got the best of her.

"Well, at least, I don't go mooning over some guy who already has a girlfriend, or like you, Annabeth, who worries whether or not Percy will remember every tender moment you two shared," snapped Mae, losing it. Her eyes blazed blue fire as she stormed off. Annabeth watched her with a calculating expression. She pushed Piper back down in her seat as Piper angrily shot up to her feet.

"She doesn't mean it, Piper. She is just scared that you're right," said Annabeth, watching Mae disappear in her odd nook at the back of the ship. "The only best friend she has ever had might be turning into something more. She's too young to process it straight." Piper gave a short nod, but Mae's words had cut below the belt.

"Yeah, okay," said Piper, not sounding entirely convinced.

It was early the next morning when everyone came up to the deck. Mae was sullenly off to one side the happiness forgotten. Addison was feeling once again depressed as he had ruined the apology that he had so taken so long to think up. It was not going unnoticed by the other that Addison was grumpy because of his failed attempts with Mae. As well as Mae, the other two girls seemed to have a bad case of the Mondays (except that today was not Monday). They, too, were in horrible moods as they stood away from the group.

"We will have to reach land soon to contact a few sources," said Annabeth, gazing out at the land. Green grass swayed invitingly. The others disappeared, and Addison and Mae were left alone.

"Mae, I was unnecessarily short with-" began Addison, but Mae cut him off.

"I don't want your apologies. What I want is answers. Don't come near me until I figure them out." said Mae, shortly. Addison was left completely crushed. Memories flashed through his mind. The first time he held her was after a football game when they had lost. Mae was devastated that the Volunteers would lose for the third time against Alabama. Back then, it was not weird that the two of them were so close. Another memory floated through his mind. It was in the car on the way to the movie on the day that everything changed. It was not that long ago. Only a few days, but Addison felt like it had been forever. Mae had been singing to Sara Bareilles, and Addison had dared to sing alongside her. She had teased him to embarrassment about his inability to sing. Those had been the good old times when he could shrug off the teasing taunts about he and Mae being together. Now, it was the only thing really pressing on his mind. Instead of being courageous and telling her how he felt, Addison was too afraid that he would get rejected. He might kill the friendship that they had. What was left of it anyway. Addison had a feeling that he had caused the fight amongst the girls right after he had left, but he could not figure out what it was specifically about. Suddenly, Addison had a idea. It was not a great idea. It was not even a good idea.

"Help me, Aphrodite," he murmured. He jumped up from his seat on the deck and quickly crawled down to Mae's side on her favorite niche.

"Mae-" began Addison. Before she could tell him off for being near her, he was interrupted by a loud yell from across ship.

"All hands on deck!" yelled Leo, in his best pirate voice. Mae giggled, and the two emerged from the nook.

"Land ahoy, mates," said Leo, curling his index finger into a hook and slashing the air like he was gouging out the eyes of some unfortunate sailor. Mae could not help but chuckle again. Piper groaned and rubbed her forehead as if she was getting a headache because his cheesy jokes. Jason looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled faintly. Leo steered the ship as close as possible to land without touching it.

"Where to now?" asked Leo. Jason looked to Annabeth.

"I need to call in some favors," she said, grimly. Mae held Piper and Annabeth back while the boys went on ahead.

"Look, umm, I'm really sorry for-" began Mae. Piper cut her off with raising her hand.

"Don't sweat it, Mae. What you said is true whether I like it or not. I needed to have some sense slapped into me." said Piper. Mae's smile lit up her face, and she dove into a massive hug for the both of them.

"Well, it didn't have to be slapped. It could have just been handed to you or-oh, never mind. Thanks." said Mae, her voice slightly muffled from talking into Annabeth's jacket. The three females followed the boys as they swam back to shore. Their little boat that had carried them to land the previous time had been dragged under the ground as Annabeth had predicted. They all had to swim to get to shore. The traveling was slow due to Gaea, but they still managed to reach their destination. A large, white house stood before them.

"Let's go," said Leo, striding forward confidently. The others looked at each other uneasily. Piper could feel Jason's arm bump into her arm. Like a mind reader, Piper could tell just what he was thinking.

"Kind of looks like Midas's place, doesn't it?" asked Piper, in an undertone. The rest were up ahead too much to hear her. Jason gave a short nod.

"Yeah, let's hope he doesn't resurrect anytime soon," said Jason. Piper smiled, but she could still picture Reyna slobbering all over him in that commanding air that she had. Piper gulped. She gazed ahead at Addison and Mae. They belong together, thought Piper, whimsically. A tight knot in her stomach lessened when she was momentarily distracted by a strand of rogue hair. She reached up to tuck it away, but Jason's hand got there faster. Piper's mouth formed a perfect "O". Jason held her gaze for a minute with as much emotion as was in his whole body. When he removed his gaze from Piper's, he glared down at the ground as if remembering something unpleasant. The knot returned as he seemed to drift back into his own, little world away from Piper. Far away. Piper removed her gaze and blinked back tears. She had to be strong.

Leo could not detect anything out of the ordinary with the house involving booby traps. They walked up to the front porch cautiously but more curious than anything.

"Whose house is this, Annabeth?" asked Addison. Piper glanced at the door. Something felt wrong.

"Like I said, I'm calling in some favors," said Annabeth. The door opened, and a blond woman stood in the doorway. She looked pleasant enough, but a few wrinkles suggested that she was middle aged. Annabeth swallowed and smiled forcefully.

"Ms. Castella, may we come in?" she asked. The woman slumped against the doorway, and a green mist poured out of her mouth. They all took a step back. She looked up with half crazed eyes. She looked directly at Jason.

"Hello, Luke," she said, smiling at Jason. They all looked completely repulsed.

Ms. Castella had been telling them to have some more kool-aid and cookies for awhile when Jason leaned over to Annabeth.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Jason, in an uneasy undertone as Ms. Castella grabbed his arm and told him to eat some more burned cookies. Annabeth did not say a word. Easy for her. She was not the one being forced to eat burned cookies and drink watery kool-aid while a creepy, old lady pets your hair and tells you it is going to be alright. Annabeth's gaze was frozen in a slightly repulsed expression. She was obviously not satisfied with the mere woman. It made no sense that she would not talk to the only person that was at the house. Why had she come here at all then? A shimmering ghost appeared at the other side of the room. The guy was obviously PO'd to see Annabeth sitting in that particular living room.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?" asked Hermes. Jason knew who it was immediately. He looked just like Reyna.

"Woah," said Leo, jumping back when he saw the ghostly shape.

"I must ask for the return of a favor," said Annabeth. Hermes scowled even darker.

"So soon? There's been less than a day since you've seen my daughter and delivered the package, and you're already cashing this in?" asked Hermes, his gaze flickered over to Ms. Castella. His frown darkened still more.

"Where is Percy?" asked Annabeth. She looked grim but resolute. Hermes sighed.

"Don't forget your original quest, Annabeth." he said, rubbing his eyes like he was not getting enough sleep. He glanced up at Annabeth to see that her expression was just the same as before. He sighed.

"He is heading to Alaska with some new friends." said Hermes. "Can I go now?" he whined. Annabeth gave a short nod and rose to leave. Hermes's ghost vanished. The teens managed to de-tangle themselves from the Ms. Castella and head for the door.

"Why did we come here?" asked Jason.

"Seeing Hermes's old girlfriend that he takes care of was the only way to get his attention," explained Annabeth.

"Castella," said Jason, like he was remembering something about the name.

"That was Luke's last name, wasn't it?" Annabeth did not respond. As soon as they reached the door, Annabeth heard a voice. It was not May Castella's.

"To the North, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown-" said May Castella. Annabeth's hand froze above the doorknob. As off timed as always, Leo frowned and said:

"North? Isn't that where Percy's headed?" asked Leo.

Eight

Everyone waited with baited breath as a horrified expression crossed her face. Piper elbowed Leo.

"Ow!" he yelled, which was not exactly necessary. "What was that for?" he whined. Piper glared at him. Mae opened the door, and they filed out. All of them except for Annabeth. She still stood there woodenly.

"Annabeth, she's not going to remember in a few minutes," said Mae. Annabeth slowly came out of the house and followed the group.

"It's too late to go back to the ship. We'll have to find someplace else to rest tonight." said Mae. The other nodded and headed towards the city as dusk was slowly settling over them.

The walk to find a reasonablely priced hotel was becoming increasing futile and tiring. Mae was walking along and spotted an old lady crossing the street. Her figure was bent, and her head was covered by a shawl. Before anyone could stop her, Mae had darted across the street and helped her across. Obviously, the woman liked to smoke because her voice was incredibly raspy when she spoke.

"Thank you, dear," said the old lady. "You are too kind. May I offer you some supper? My apartment is just on the fourth floor of this building." Mae looked at the others, but their wariness was already crumbling at the prospect of eating a hot dinner. She agreed, and they were led up to the apartment by the old woman. As soon as they walked in, however, they should have realized something was amiss. Annabeth recoiled quickly when she saw the massive, ornate spider sitting on the fireplace shelf.

"I hate spiders," she whimpered, nearly hiding behind Leo. Leo looked amused that such a thing would bother her so much. He then proceeded to mess with it to try to terrify Annabeth further. Piper and Mae rolled their eyes.

"Ah, I have a particular fondness for spiders," said the old woman, slowly fixing supper. Annabeth daintily sat on the edge of the couch as if it was about to turn into a spider and eat her.

"What an interesting weaving loom," remarked Piper, spotting a massive loom that took up most of the room. The woman smiled.

"My greatest masterpiece but my teacher didn't quite like it," said the old woman. Annabeth peered closer. Her eyes became huge.

"Your name is Ariadne, isn't it?" guessed Annabeth. Everyone turned in surprise back at the little, old woman. There was a clang of metal as she dropped the pot she was holding.

"Ariadne got turned into a spider, though," said Leo, confused. The woman turned to face them.

"Gaea resurrected me and is slowly bringing my human form back. She alone should be worshiped." said the old woman, removing the shawl from her head.

"Eww!" squealed Mae, jumping back like all the others. The woman was indeed coming back but very slowly. She had a humanoid body, but there was thick, gray hair covering her body, and her eyes were large and completely black. Annabeth sat frozen with fear on the couch.

"Great, just what we need," said Leo, brandishing a hammer from his belt. "A talking spider." she did not make a move, however, but decided to stand in the middle of the room while the six demigods surrounded her.

"If you kill me, I'll just keep coming back and plaguing you again," said Ariadne. Mae scowled.

"We'll get over it," she replied, releasing an arrow. It soared right through her. She cackled and bared two pincer like fangs.

"What the-" began Mae. Annabeth turned around and broke the window. She leapt out of it yelling out behind her.

"RUN!" She yelled. The others did not need telling twice. They sprinted out the window and landed hard on the balcony below. Mae twisted around and aimed an arrow at the building across the street. She clutched her bow as it was hooked onto the rope and kicked off. It zoomed Annabeth and Mae to safety. Mae sent the bow back down the line for the others to come across. Ariadne leaned out of her window leisurely.

"5,4,3,2-" she counted, aloud. The other four made it across.

"How is she supposed to catch us?" asked Leo, as Mae cut the rope adjoining the two buildings. The old woman crawled out of the window and held out her hand. A web shot out and connected itself to the side of the building.

"Spider-man rip off!" shouted Leo, as Ariadne swung over to their building and started climbing up. The demigods ran to the other side of the top of the building. Annabeth gazed down.

"There's no way to outrun her," said Mae, answering her thoughts. Piper turned and brandished her weapon.

"I can charm-speak her to stay in her normal form instead of going all ghostly on us. That way, we can kill her," said Piper. Annabeth looked down one more time.

"I have an idea," she said, turning to Mae with a gleam in her eye.

"Keep her busy for as long as you can," said Annabeth, while Mae shot another rope arrow. "But don't kill her!" she called, out as she flew over the side of the building with Mae.

Leo's hand caught fire, and he turned around with the others. Ariadne came soaring over the side. Her black eyes gleamed as she walked towards them.

"Gross," murmured Piper.

"Where's my old pal Annabeth?" asked Ariadne. No one answered.

"Well that's okay. I'll just take care of you demigods while I wait," she said, advancing towards them.

"Distract her," murmured Jason, to Addison. The answer popped right into his head, and he reached for his wallet. Her eyes darted to his quick movement.

"Are you going to pay me to go away?" laughed Ariadne. Addison frowned. The golden card was pulled, and the wallet transformed into his axe. Addison did not even need to try to miss. He was so bad that he could not hit her with the axe. He was heaving by the time he had barely made Ariadne pant. Her eyes darted suspiciously at the others as if wondering why they were not fighting.

"Really? I was expecting more from you, demigods. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were letting this boy distr-" taunted Ariadne, but she stopped mid-sentence when the words sank in.

"You!" she snarled. She knocked Addison aside and sprinted over the side of the building. Addison, recovering himself, limped over to the others that were standing at the edge watching spider-woman use her abilities to get down at the bank where the two had disappeared. How she knew which building they went in, they could not figure out. Leo's eyes glittered brightly when Jason congratulated Addison on a successful diversion.

"You were trying to hurt her, weren't you?" snickered Leo. Addison shot him a look.

"Not a word to Mae," he demanded. Leo chuckled and gave him a sly look.

"You're going to tell her, aren't you?" sighed Addison, already knowing the answer.

"Duh," replied Leo, using the rope that Mae had left for them.

There was a large jolt as the spider woman hit the ground. Annabeth motioned the bank manager to leave.

"Get ready," she called, up to Mae. The door shattered, and Ariadne crawled through. She seemed to only have her sights on Annabeth.

"Your little friend was quite effective at keeping me busy. What I want to know is why did you need a distraction?" asked Ariadne. Annabeth stood tauntingly silent. Only Mae could see the vault door wide open behind her from her position on the rafters.

"You can't kill me, Annabeth," sneered Ariadne, flexing her hairy fingers. "And if you do, I'll just come back and kill your boyfriend Percy." She had struck a nerve. Annabeth still stayed silent. With a roar, Ariadne sprung towards Annabeth. Mae kicked off of the rafters where she was perched and swung towards Annabeth. She scooped her up right before Ariadne could hurt her. The spider woman hurled with such force into the vault that it shut by itself with a loud, shuddering bang. Annabeth twirled the lock. They could hear Ariadne pounding mercilessly on the inside of the door and screeching.

"Why are we locking her up in a vault?" asked Mae, while Annabeth called the manager back in. The Mist was clearly manipulating the sound of the spider lady's screams since he did not pay any attention to it.

"Just sign here," said the manager. Annabeth nodded.

"On my 30th birthday, it can be opened." said Annabeth. The manager nodded happily and wished them a good day. They left the bank and met the rest of the group outside.

"She'll slowly die, but not fast enough to get to any of us. By the time she dies, I hope that Percy will have released Death," said Annabeth.

"Percy's releasing Death?" asked Mae, slightly bewildered. Annabeth looked surprised.

"I figured that's why Percy's headed North," said Annabeth. "It's so obvious that Death was captured, and Percy's gone to save him." Mae rolled her eyes.

"Not everyone is as smart as you, Annabeth," Mae said. Annabeth smiled smugly. It was awhile before they got back to Ariadne's apartment. They decided to make spaghetti for dinner. Surprisingly, Leo was the best cook, and he was ordered to make them all dinner. Annabeth went through the house and threw all the spider-related things out the window.

"Girls get bedroom!" yelled Mae. She jerked open the door and nearly gagged at the smell. She shut the door scarred for life. She reappeared sometime later.

"We're all sleeping in the living room." was all she said. They all looked at her queerly but did not question her.

"I know we should get some sleep, but can't we watch a movie tonight?" asked Leo.

"A very short one," agreed Annabeth. Leo beamed and dug out a very old looking tape. They curled up sleepily on various couches and cushions. Mae's thoughts drifted off of the movie. She could just barely see Addison out of the corner of her eye. She could not tell if he truly liked her or not. It seemed to come and go. Feeling a headache slowly creep upon her, Mae gave up and sleepily leaned her head back. Leo got up to switch the movie off. He glanced around and was startled to find everyone asleep but him. Annabeth was lying asleep on the floor. Piper was leaning on Jason asleep. Mae's head had slid onto Addison's shoulder, and his head rested on her's. Both of their eyes were closed, and Mae looked absolutely tiny curled up beside Addison. A pang shot through his chest, and a flash of a small black girl rang through his memory. Leo clutched his head and scowled. He had no memory of a black girl that looked like that. So why did she look familiar? Leo curled up with a pillow and gradually fell asleep.

"You have forgotten me, young Hero," rumbled a deep voice. Addison stared into those huge, starry eyes.

"I don't know who you are!" yelled Addison, in despair.

"Ask her. Ask the fire-headed one with the temper to match. Apollo has blessed her." rumbled the voice.

"But she won't talk to me!" he shouted, as he felt himself slip from the dream. The voice chuckled darkly.

"She will. She will." it assured."

Addison woke up and glanced around the room. He half expected the owner of the voice to be in the room. Blinking groggily, Addison lifted his head and wondered what was on his shoulder. He could not believe his eyes. Mae was fast asleep with her head on his shoulder. Her freckled face was completely serene. Addison had the strangest urge to kiss her but refrained. That was not going to help them in any way with their current predicament. He turned his head to all the others. He remember that Piper had fallen asleep on Jason's shoulder, but now, she had fallen with Jason over on her side and was now completely wrapped up in his embrace. Annabeth was asleep with her laptop wide open resting on her lap. Addison was willing to bet that she had fallen asleep while attempting to unscramble one of the puzzles. Leo was snuggled up with a pillow and was having a very difficult time in his dream. He kept murmuring something about Leves-something. Addison adjusted Mae's head to his chest and leaned back. Closing his eyes, Addison was quick to fall asleep.

"You have forgotten me," rang throughout all of his dreams.

Nine

When Addison woke up, he heard a great deal of clinking. He opened his eyes to see all of his friends bustling about the room. Annabeth was packing and shouting orders. (Addison did not know how he slept through that.) Leo and Piper were cooking, and Mae and Jason were helping pack and cleaning up. The creepy words kept echoing in Addison's mind, and he looked at Mae. Annabeth did not give him long to think, however, and promptly set him to work.  
>"Where to next?" asked Leo, cheerfully.<br>"I'm not sure," responded Jason.  
>"We might have to stop looking for Percy and go on with the quest." said Annabeth, quietly. There was a pregnant pause while everyone stopped working and just stood there.<br>"Stop looking for Percy?" repeated Mae, slowly. No one could believe her.  
>"What was your prophecy?" asked Jason, to Annabeth. Her head snapped up sharply.<br>"Why would you think that I had a prophecy?" demanded Annabeth. Her eyes blazed in a wild way. Jason looked a little taken back.  
>"Umm, because you were told not to forget your original quest," answered Jason. Annabeth's eyes calmed down to their calculating gray.<br>"I can't tell you right now," said Annabeth, focusing mainly on her backpack.  
>"I have an idea where we could go next," said Addison, timidly. All eyes turned towards him.<br>"I've had this dream twice now," he began. Addison recounted his dream but left out the exact wording about Mae.  
>"Mae, the voice told me that you knew who he was," said Addison. Mae opened and shut her mouth.<br>"I don't know," she admitted, shrugging. They all looked defeated. Suddenly, Mae bent over clutching her stomach.  
>"Bound by Gaea's lie<br>A god from on high  
>A star makes up his eye<br>His body is our sky."  
>Green smoke and the faint hint of the smell of snake skin poured out of her mouth. Her voice was creepily layered. Her entire body shivered, and her body went slack. As suddenly as it appeared, it left her. Mae was coughing her lungs out on the floor. Addison knelt by her side and patted her back. Mae looked up to see everyone's horrified expressions.<br>"What just happened?" she asked, sounding exhausted. Annabeth gave her a quizzical look. Her expression clearly stated that she was calculating what else could the daughter of Apollo do. Mae was held up to a higher power in her eyes.  
>"Ouranos," said Annabeth, snapping out of her daze and ignoring Mae's question completely.<br>"That's where we're headed next." Mae glanced around confused. She had no idea what just happened.  
>"Apollo has blessed her." rang in Addison's ears.<br>It was sad to see everyone avoid Mae like the plague. But in their defense, it was really disturbing to see someone speaking like the Oracle.  
>"I thought only Rachel could do that," murmured Leo, for the hundredth time.<br>"Shut up!" snapped Piper, irritably.  
>"Guys, stop fighting," said Jason, rubbing his forehead like he was getting a headache. Piper gave him a sympathetic glance, but it hardened when she saw Leo's goofy smile.<br>"Yeah, whatever, Sparky," replied Leo, turning back to face the front. Piper gritted her teeth and walked on. Addison tried to comfort Mae, but she gave him a glare. Apparently, waking up asleep on someone's chest was not her favorite way of waking up.  
>"Don't," she warned. Addison walked on with the group.<br>"Anyone actually know where to find Ouranos?" asked Piper. Annabeth stopped stepping on twigs and glanced up.  
>"No, but we have to get back to the ship," she answered. Mae shuffled behind everyone else. When Addison fell in step with her, her expression cleared a little bit.<br>"No one will tell me what happened." she complained. There was a faint plea in her voice.  
>"You, umm, kind of did that weird prophecy kind of thing where your voice gets layered, and smoke pours out of your mouth." said Addison. "You said some crappy poem about some sky guy, and Annabeth figured it out." Mae looked even more miserable.<br>"But I don't want to be an oracle." she sniffled, her eyes downcast, and her voice strangely muffled. Addison looked at her in surprise. He regularly forgot that Mae was not as tough as his guy friends.  
>"I don't think you will be. You might just have one or two episodes, and then you're done." said Addison, to cheer her up. "In my dream, Ouranos told me that you had been blessed by your father. I guess he knew that you had the second sight or whatever it's called." Mae rubbed her runny nose and smiled. She surprised Addison by throwing her arms around him and hugging him.<br>"Thanks," she said, in a small, muffled voice as she spoke into his t-shirt. Addison tried not to eagerly attack her but gently slipped his arms around her.  
>"Oi! Love birds! Let's go!" yelled Leo, from a ways away. Addison blushed and let go. They sprinted until they had reached the group again.<br>They had walked back to the boat and set sail once more when Jason came up on deck.  
>"So how are we supposed to find Ouranos?" asked Leo, suddenly. He had been tinkering with something from his tool-belt and now put it away with an irritated shove back into his belt. Annabeth stared out at the water.<br>"I don't know," she replied, leaning on a shroud. Mae un-braided her hair and put them in new braids before she answered.  
>"Zeus is lord of the sky, right? He would know," said Mae, looking at Jason.<br>"I don't have anyway to contact him. You know all connections are severed right now." said Jason, running a hand over his closely shorn head. Piper was staring at the mast when she spoke up.  
>"Who would know where we can contact Ouranos?" mused Piper. Annabeth jolted as if she had just come out of a dream, and her eyes blazed with energy.<br>"Only the old gods," she replied, as if the answer was obvious. The others looked at her blankly.  
>"Gaea is bringing back only the one's who have grudges against the gods, right? Who has a massive grudge against the gods? Especially Zeus?" she waited, but there was still no reply.<br>"He was a Titan, and he has been around for ages," prompted Annabeth. She was clearly disappointed in the lack of answers from the others.  
>"Prometheus," she said, rolling her eyes and letting out a huff.<br>"Where would he be?" asked Leo, already edging towards the engine room to set their course.  
>"On top of Caucasus Mountain," remembered Piper. Leo stopped, and a look of confusion crossed his face.<br>"Why are we going to see a guy who has a grudge against the gods? Wouldn't that be kind of stupid?" asked Leo, his eyes narrowing. Annabeth rolled her eyes again. This was becoming a daily habit for her.  
>"He's chained to a rock, Hammer Head," said Annabeth, in a duh kind of voice.<br>Mae sat in her little nook and trailed the tip of her sneaker in the water. It caused the water to ripple out behind the ship. Addison dropped beside her. Mae was still confused about the predicament, but she tried to look over that. Mae could see Addison staring at her in their reflection.  
>"Is there anything that you would like to talk to me about?" dared Mae, cringing at her own boldness. A mixed expression crossed his face. His mouth opened. It shut just as fast.<br>"Nope, anything with you?" asked Addison, biting back his original answer with some difficulty. Mae's gaze drifted back up to the deck.  
>"I'm-" she began. Addison leaned forward to see her expression. Her expression was so full of despair that Addison hugged her without even thinking. She did not cry, but her body shivered like she was suffering from some sort of illness. The sun was dropping below the horizon. Mae's head emerged from the folds of his t-shirt and smiled at him. Her blue eyes were tinged slightly orange from the light, and her hair burned his vision it was so vibrant. All at once, her freckles stood out each separately. Addison could not help himself. His lips closed on her's, and everything blurred. He vaguely remembered taking deep breaths, but when they broke apart, he was breathing heavily. Mae's face was filled with so much emotion, Addison knew at once he had made a mistake. Mae was gone before he even acknowledged it. He sat dejectedly on the small board that served as a seat, and his head was buried in his hands. He smashed the seat with his fist in frustration. He had been so stupid. The sun disappeared, and dusk settled in.<br>Mae had rushed to her hammock and thrown herself on the bed. WHY? She screamed in her head. Too many tears had been shed. She was going to tell Addison her feeling concerning that blasted "gift" that her father had given her. He would listen. Then he had to go and make it all weird and confusing. The others, they would not understand. They looked at her strangely as she walked past. She might be a tomboy, but she still had feeling of a girl. Why did no one get that? She let out a frustrated scream in her pillow and finally had the courage to sit up. Her face burned, and her head ached. In a fit of frustration, she hurled the pillow across the room. It hit a lantern off of the shelf. The glass lantern shattered all over the floor. She was trembling so badly that she sat down heavily next to the broken bits. You have to stop, ordered Mae, to herself. She took a deep breath and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She picked up a big piece of glass, and her reflection peered back at her. Her eyes were rimmed with dark bags from so much exercise and so little sleep. Her freckles were more prominent from all the sun, but her eyes were filled with pain. She could see a flash of memory regarding the make-out with Addison. She hated to admit it, but she really liked it. She also hated the fact that she hated not liking Addison. She balled up her fist and rubbed her eye. A shot of pain electrified through her hand as the glass cut into the skin. Mae released it with a wince. Blood dripped down the cut and stung.  
>Mae reached the deck the next morning with a splitting headache and a newly bandaged hand. Addison seemed to have had a rough night too. The bags under his eyes were darker than all the others. He seemed even more withdrawn than usual and steadily avoided contact with anyone's gaze.<br>"Prometheus's rock is up there," said Annabeth, pointing up to the large cliff that rose out of the water. A large bird was circling above.  
>"Get your weapons ready, demigods. We are going to need them." said Annabeth. The others followed her to shore and started the steep incline up the slope. Addison glanced up at the others and noticed his brother's lack of enthusiasm. He had been completely quiet since that morning. Once you look closer, you could tell that his eyes were darker as if he had not had much sleep either. He ran a hand through his curly hair and sighed to the ground. Sweat drenched every person as they struggled up the gradually steeper slope.<br>"I better be toned after this quest," grumbled Mae, taking a giant step forward. The others laughed besides Leo. A sad pause followed that statement. What if they never came back from this quest? Rang through everyone's minds. It was scary when they finally made it to the top. The massive rock mountain stretched out for miles. The teens' legs ached, but there was still something off about Leo. He had still not said a word, and it was nearly nightfall. The kids were settling down for a rest before they struck out to see Prometheus the next day. Everyone was so exhausted that they barely found enough energy to set up their tents. Just when everyone had collapsed in their sleeping bags, there was a fierce screeching and a thunderous yell of pain. Every demigod rushed out of their tents with their weapons drawn. There was nothing out there, but the noise continued.  
>"It's the eagle eating his liver," said Annabeth. The others groaned and stumbled sleepily back to their tents. Little sleep was to be had that night. A very restless night soon followed, and each of them barely got two hours of sleep. By the time they had all woken up, the screeching had stopped. Annabeth permitted them to rest for several more hours, and they were sleepily tugged out of bed around noon.<br>"Let's go," said Annabeth, taking a sip of nectar. This re-energized them, and they headed warily to where Prometheus was chained.

Chapter ten  
>Reaching the point took less time than Mae suspected. The rocks were a great deal easier to climb over than the rocks previously. She ignored Addison for the most part but kept a close eye on Leo. He looked even worst that morning that he did the previous night. When Mae spotted a tall mountain of hair ahead, her hand nervously went to her headband.<br>"Hello!" bellowed Annabeth, close to the head now.  
>There's no need to shout," rumbled a voice. The mountainside shook.<br>"Look who's talking," muttered Jason, stepping to Annabeth's side.  
>"Excuse us, sir," replied Annabeth, lowering her dagger that looked like a toothpick compared to his massive head.<br>"What do you want, young demigods?" asked Prometheus. Mae stumbled into Addison as the ground shook. She refused to look at him as she wrenched herself away.  
>"We,-" faltered Annabeth. You could practically see the gears in her head turning.<br>"We wish to know where Ouranos is."  
>"For that you will have to do something for me, first," laughed Prometheus. Annabeth's grip tightened on her sword.<br>"Like what?" she asked. Mae steadied Leo as he staggered into her.  
>"Free me." he replied. Mae's mouth dropped open. Annabeth and Jason looked as if they guessed as much.<br>"There is no way that we can do that! You must be crazy!" exclaimed Piper.  
>"Then you won't find out about Ouranos," he replied, candidly. Mae's temper flared slightly, but she realized that was not going to get them anywhere if she exploded. Annabeth motioned the others to her, and they flocked around her.<br>"We have to free him," she said, in an undertone.  
>"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?" screeched Mae. Addison clapped a hand over her mouth and shoved her down.<br>"Shut up!" he hissed. Mae glared at him fiercely.  
>"No, Mae, I'm not crazy," replied Annabeth, continuing as if she had not interrupted rudely. "A loose Titan is the least of our worries when we have no idea how to defeat Gaea who could wipe out the entire population of everyone."<br>"How do you propose to release him?" asked Jason. Annabeth did not respond immediately but began to observe the chains.  
>"We will have to find their weakness and hit the weak point." she replied.<br>"Prometheus, we have considered your proposition." announced Annabeth, loudly.  
>"And the answer is?" he demanded, impatiently.<br>"Yes, we will free you, but you must swear on the River Styx that you will tell us where Ouranos is," she replied. Prometheus gave a satisfied chuckle.  
>"Get your weapons out," she ordered. It took them nearly the whole day to tinker around with locating the weak points and fashion weapons-courtesy of Leo and Addison- to drill into them because they could not use their own weapons.<br>"It's nearly nightfall," reported Jason, lighting their way with torches.  
>"We need to do this now," she demanded, with an anxious glance up at the sky.<br>"Now!" she ordered, helping them shoved the spike in. The chain gave a sickening crunch as their plier splintered.  
>"Quickly! Another one!" demanded Annabeth. Addison rushed to the stockpile and tossed a large spear over. They applied force onto it, and it splintered as well. This time, Addison was well prepared as he jammed another spear almost instantaneously into the gap. The chain snapped. The small group heaved huge sighs of relief.<br>"It's mending!" exclaimed Piper. Jason kept it pried apart with his strength.  
>"I need something to pin this thing open with!" he panted.<br>"He'll have to keep it open while we get the other weak points." stated Annabeth. The others followed her quickly to the other points before Jason's arms gave out. The same began to happen to the next break. They had successfully gotten almost all of the weak links propped open and broken when they heard a signaling shriek from an oncoming bird.  
>"Di immortals," swore Annabeth, peering up into the sky to see a large, brown bird swoop closer.<br>"It won't attack us," assured Mae, sweat pouring off of her body. A shriek sounded too close to them as the bird missed as it clawed past them.  
>"Are you sure, Mae?" demanded Leo, grabbing her out of harm's way.<br>"Got anymore words of wisdom?" snapped Piper, who was badly shaken.  
>"Shut up! All of you!" hissed Annabeth, dragging them into a small cove that the eagle could not reach easily.<br>"One of you needs to fight it while two of prop it open," she explained. Mae nodded and released her bow from her headband.  
>"You two go on ahead," she prodded. An arrow was notched in the bow.<br>"PROMETHEUS!" thundered Annabeth, from their hiding place.  
>"Get ready to break free!" she yelled, dashing out with Piper. Mae sprinted out of the hiding hole and fire a rapid succession of arrows in the direction of the offending bird that was attempting to attack Jason since it could not reach the girls. The bird shrieked as an arrow clipped its wing. Its beady eyes turned murderously at Mae. As it swooped in for the kill, Mae kicked off of the wall and collided hard with the bird. The bird's head swivelled around and snapped at her, but she elbowed it sharply in the head and kept pounding it with her fists. The bird violently swerved causing Mae to nearly tumble off. She gripped the feathers hard as her body weight was flung to one side and nearly pitched her into the rocky depths below. Mae could blearily see Annabeth and Piper release the last chain. Prometheus did nothing.<br>"Prometheus!" screamed Annabeth. He merely laughed.  
>"You will be killed by the bird, young demigods," he laughed. Sweat poured off of Annabeth's forehead as she scowled.<br>"Let go!" she yelled, to the others. His laughter was cut short as the chain snapped back into place.  
>"We upheld our end of the deal, Prometheus," yelled Annabeth, angrily. "Now you uphold yours!" He merely laughed again.<br>"This was all part of Gaea's plan, wasn't it?" demanded Piper. The others began to regroup.  
>"She was going to free me for killing you. Well, actually the bird is going to be the one killing you-technically." replied Prometheus.<br>"Why do that when you could have spared us and freed yourself?" demanded Annabeth, fury lining every word.  
>"One does not do anything against Mother Earth when she is going to win," replied Prometheus. Jason scowled.<br>"She is not going to win! Not unless we don't get the secret. Now where is Uranus?" yelled Addison. His gaze was momentarily distracted by a small redhead being flung around on the bird's back. Her leg was looped around the bird to keep herself aloft.  
>"Ouranos is where he always is." replied Prometheus. Annabeth stomped her foot in childish fury.<br>"Where is that?" she screamed. The others had never seen her so angry.  
>"The sky," he laughed. His laughter made the hills shake. Mae gave a scream as the bird successfully managed to lose part of her hold. Her blue eyes were wide open in fear as her grip was slowly slackening due to the slipperiness of the feathers.<br>"ADDISON!" she screamed. He turned around and yelled in horror as Mae plummeted to the rocky depths below.  
>"Mae..."<br>His voice came out in a whisper as he watched with a sinking heart as the girl streaked to the ground. Something was odd about her fall as she seemed to slow down before his eyes. She hit the ground with a piercing crunch, and the entire group fell silent. In the faint distance, the eagle shrieked.  
>Addison sprinted towards the place where Mae had fallen as the other demigods stood frozen.<br>"Look what you've done!" shrieked Piper. Her tone was desperate as she stood there stiff as a board.  
>"I've done nothing. It was the eagle," replied Prometheus. Tears welled up in Piper's eyes as she watched lifelessly as Addison finally reached Mae's broken body. From their distance, they could not hear his sobs but they could see his shoulders shaking violently as he gently reached out a hand to touch her body.<br>"Where is Ouranos?" asked Annabeth. Her grimy face held a new determination.  
>"I told you," replied Prometheus. He winced slightly as the eagle positioned itself and dived.<br>" . ." said Annabeth. Tears had welled up in her eyes, and she was brandishing her toothpick dagger threateningly. The others stood there solemnly until they heard a surprising shout. Even Annabeth fell silent as a small redhead rose shakily to her feet.  
>"Di Immortals," whispered Annabeth, running a few steps in the direction of Mae and Addison. Addison held Mae up and was slowly making his way back towards them.<br>"This is bad. This is very bad." whispered Annabeth. The others rushed forward-not daring to believe that Mae was, indeed, still alive.  
>Piper sprinted up to Addison.<br>"What h-happened?" she stammered. Her kaleidoscope eyes changed from green to brown.  
>"I-I saw these doors, and but they never opened. I just turned around and went back out." replied Mae. There was a nasty bruise on her forehead, and her eyes were slightly glassy looking-but none the worst for being dead.<br>"But h-how...?" muttered Leo. His eyes held a strange expression as if he was piecing together some sort of puzzle secretly in his mind.  
>"And foes bear arms the Doors of Death," quoted Jason and Annabeth, at the same time while behind them.<br>"Our enemies have captured Death and are now letting just about anyone stroll in and out of Hades," explained Annabeth. Leo sat down shakily while the others looked at each other in horror.  
>"I'm obviously glad for Mae, but do you know what this means?" said Jason. His blue eyes roved over the others and came to a resting spot on Piper- his most trusted friend.<br>"When we kill our enemies, they won't just die," whispered Piper, in reply. There was a pregnant pause as they digested this.  
>"We have to find Ouranos, immediately." stated Annabeth. She began to pile small stones on top of one another.<br>"So we build a mini table out of stones to pass the time?" snapped Leo, dryly. Annabeth gave him a withering look.  
>"It's a alter, you buffoon," she replied. The others knelt with her and began to pray. Addison cradled Mae to his side as she was still feeling the strangest sensation that everything in her body was tingling as if reawakening.<br>"I've asked my mother to help us get there in time," stated Annabeth, wiping something that looked suspiciously like tears from her eyes.  
>"Hold old Promy to his promise," said Mae, groggily. Her eyes slid out of focus once or twice. Addison had to readjust her to rest on his chest as he had to hold her up to make sure she did not pass out and hurt herself more. Annabeth marched up to him and stuck her chin out defiantly.<br>"Prometheus, I hold you to your oath. Tell us exactly where Ouranos is." said Annabeth. The sky crackled, and a large lightening bolt streaked across the sky as he opened his mouth to defy her.  
>"Oh, fine," he mumbled. The sky stopped rumbling.<br>"Ouranos can be reached of the highest mountain," he replied.  
>"It's locked from anyone." replied Annabeth, who thought he was talking about Mount Olympus that had moved to the Empire State Building. "How are we supposed to get up to the top of the Empire State Building?"<br>"I didn't say it was there. Now did I?" he countered. Annabeth frowned.  
>"You mean the original Mount Olympus?" she asked. Prometheus rolled his eyes.<br>"I mean the highest mountain. In the old world, although Mount Olympus was not technically the highest, it was where you found the gateway to Ouranos as well as the gods' home." replied Prometheus. Annabeth frowned as she tried to think what he might be talking about.  
>"If everything moves to the West, what would be the tallest mountain in America?" he asked, slightly irritated.<br>"Mount McKinley in Alaska?" she guessed.  
>"Took you long enough," he sneered. She scowled and turned back to the others.<br>"Alaska is out of reach of the gods," she said, in an undertone. Her voice was scared as she cast her stormy grey eyes around the circle. Mae coughed, and a rattling breath traveled through her body.  
>"Mae, are you okay?" asked Addison, who was still petrified that something else would happen to Mae.<br>"Wisdom's daughter walks alone,  
>the Mark of Athena burns through Rome." said Mae. Her voice was layered once again, and the smell of reptiles was heavy like a damp blanket in the air. Mae doubled over and began coughing violently. Annabeth's stormy grey eyes looked possibly even more frightened than before. Annabeth opened her mouth, and a small noise escaped but nothing intelligible. No one. Not one person that has ever been recorded in the history of Camp Half-Blood had ever heard Annabeth speechless.<br>"W-what was t-that, Mae?" she asked. It was hard to tell who was more in shock- the group because of Annabeth's reaction or Annabeth herself.  
>"What was what?" asked Mae. She looked up at their faces and froze.<br>"I did it again. Didn't I?" she asked, in a faint voice. Tears welled up in her large, blue eyes. Addison began to rub her arm sympathetically. She did not seem to mind him anymore.  
>"I don't remember any of it," she whispered. Annabeth gave a jerky nod and focused on the ground.<br>"We have to get going." she said, briskly. She clapped her hands and seem to snap out of her daze.  
>"Mount McKinley isn't getting any closer." she added.<p>

Chapter eleven  
>Nearly a day later, they finally made it a good ways to Alaska. The air was getting frostier as they traveled up north. The demigods were soon forced out of comfort to wear jackets.<br>"Let's stop here," suggested Annabeth, when they passed an old, country looking town. Thinking it would raise some suspicion if they came to port in a copy of the Argo, the teens decided to dock the ship along the coast farther down. Walking to the town was slightly more pleasurable than most of their excursions, and Mae's hopes soon lifted as the prospect of normal life was quickening her step. The attitude was infectious, and soon, all of the group were walking briskly to town. Annabeth doled out a sparing amount of money for each group, and they divided in order to get groceries quicker.  
>Mae had never liked shopping of any kind unless you counted when she went shopping for sports supplies; but when Addison asked who was going to pick out food, Mae jumped to the opportunity.<br>"Do you think we need tomatoes?" she asked, weighing a fat, juicy, red orb. Addison wrinkled his nose at a dried up looking lettuce head before turning back to Mae.  
>"They would be good on sandwiches," he agreed. Mae reached for her money to pay the lady behind the market stall but paused when the lady spoke.<br>"Honey, go ahead and put the money on the stall," the lady said. Her eyes were glazed over in an odd, dreamy haze.  
>"I"ve got to go get my husband to fall in love with me again." Mae stood there with her eyes transfixed on the old woman. That was not normal. Hoping to escape the old woman, Mae dropped the change on the stall and hurried onto the next stall.<br>"What was that all about?" asked Addison, puzzled. Mae shrugged and pretended like it did not bother her.  
>"No idea," she replied, hurriedly. Addison caught her change in tone but did not press it.<br>"Why are you so hurried?" asked another lady, behind the current stall. Mae's heart sank as she glanced up with growing dread.  
>"Excuse me?" she asked. Her eyes darted to the odd woman that they had just bought tomatoes from.<br>"Don't tell me that you've got somewhere to hurry away to on such a fine, market day." the lady said, pleasantly. Mae relaxed, but her relief was short-lived. The tomato seller placed a hand on the stall lady's arm.  
>"Don't keep them, Molly. They've got to get to Mount McKinley before time runs out." said the old woman. Mae ended up dropping the eggplant on her foot as she stared in bewilderment at the old lady.<br>"How do you know about that?" demanded Addison, behind her. The lady ignored them and shuffled away.  
>"Got to make him love me again," she mumbled. Mae and Addison shared a look of disbelief as the other demigods walked up.<br>"What's wrong?" asked Annabeth, catching Mae's expression.  
>"That woman knew where we were going," Mae replied.<br>"Was she a threat?" she asked. Mae shook her head.  
>"No, I don't think so," she replied.<br>"Excuse me!" Annabeth yelled, after the woman. Annabeth's instincts took over as she chased the woman down. Despite her age and her slow gait, the demigods could not catch up with her. She finally lead them to a trailer.  
>"Excuse me, ma'am," Annabeth interrupted her muttering. Mae's fingers trailed her headband nervously. The woman turned around and seemed to notice them for the first time.<br>"Hello, dear, what do you want?" she asked. Annabeth frowned.  
>"Mae, I think you must have misinterpreted her," said Annabeth, staring at the middle-aged woman and sizing her up as non-threatening.<br>"Dear, shouldn't you be on your way? I heard that you need to get to Ouranos quickly via the mountain," said the woman. Annabeth stared at her curiously.  
>"How did she know?" demanded Annabeth. Piper took a step forward.<br>"Ma'am, how do you know?" she asked, sweetly. Mae caught the power behind her words.  
>"She told me about it," the lady replied, dreamily. Jason and Annabeth exchanged a look.<br>"Who?" asked Piper. Leo peered at her closely as the woman seemed to be listening to someone else.  
>"Her," she replied, insistently. Piper breathed in slowly as she tried to calm her impatience.<br>"Yes, we know that-" she began. Annabeth caught her arm and gave her a small shake of her head.  
>"Who are you?" asked Annabeth. This time, the lady did not need to be charmspoken.<br>"Ariadne," replied the woman. Annabeth's eyes widened.  
>"There's more," she said, somewhat desperately.<br>"More of what?" Jason asked.  
>"The Doors of Death," Annabeth replied. "I don't know how many she's released." Jason began to understand. Gaea had released any of the people that had been wronged by the gods. If she got enough of them, the wronged people would wreak havoc trying to get revenge. Gaea would have even more supporters. Piper seemed to come to the same conclusion.<br>"Wait a minute. Why would Ariadne be released? Wasn't she taken as a wife of a god?" she asked.  
>"Make him fall in love with me again," insisted Ariadne.<br>"She must feel like Dionysus abandoned her when she died." muttered Annabeth, to the others.  
>"We'll just be on our way," said Piper, turning to leave. Annabeth caught her arm once more and pulled her to whisper in her ear.<br>"Gaea is hoping to distract us, I think," muttered Annabeth. Mae overheard them.  
>"How is she distracting us when we can just leave now?" asked Mae, puzzled.<br>"She must know something about our journey," replied Annabeth. Mae frowned.  
>"Dear," said Ariadne. Annabeth turned.<br>"Yes, ma'am?" she responded, politely.  
>"There's something you should know," Ariadne continued.<br>"What's that?" asked Annabeth, and stepped closer in the direction of Ariadne's motioning finger.  
>"I can tell you something about your group, but you must do something for me first," she said. Mae bit her lip in frustration. Go figure.<br>"What do we have to do?" asked Annabeth.  
>"Make my husband fall in love with me again," she replied.<br>"How?" asked Annabeth.  
>"The valley of Narcissus," the woman replied. Mae edged forward to hear better.<br>"The plants there- narcissus flowers- can be ground up once they are plucked and once mixed with water, can be used as a love potion. Only the flowers plucked by the riverbank can be used." the lady said.  
>"Why can't you go?" asked Mae, bluntly.<br>"Because I'm too old to get up those hills," Ariadne replied, pointing a finger up to the hills behind the trailer.  
>"Annabeth," said the redhead. The blond turned to her.<br>"What?" she asked.  
>"Why are we doing this?" asked Mae, in an undertone. Her gaze darted to the sinking sun.<br>"We need all the information we can get," replied Annabeth. "There might be something about Percy that she tells us." Mae fiddled with her newly redone braid.  
>"Percy might need to wait if we have to get the message from Ouranos to defeat Gaea," said Mae, in a small voice. Annabeth nodded.<br>"I thought about that," she replied, though not unkindly.  
>"If this has to do with the others, then we have to know." Mae nodded but she did not like that they were getting sidetracked.<br>On the way to the valley, Mae had a sudden lonely feeling. She glanced at Piper and caught her wistful expression as she stared at Jason. Curious, Mae pretended to stop to tie her shoe while Addison walked past. He did not bother stopping to talk or anything but kept walking. Mae felt a pang inside and scolded herself. What is your problem? She asked herself. You do not like him that way, she refused.  
>Several hours later, Annabeth sucked in her breath as she caught sight of the valley. It was no so dark that they could barely see, but the valley glowed like a purple, fluorescent lightbulb. Each demigod safely lowered himself down to the ground and gaze around himself with rapture and amazement.<br>"This looks totally like Avatar," remarked Leo, spotting the pinkish trees.  
>"This is way more beautiful," replied Mae. She wandered a little farther out and found herself in a small patch of the oddest flowers. They had transparent skins, but the skins were a faint purple hue. Inside, Mae could see a pulsing orb. Looking back to that moment, Mae could not tell why she decided to reach towards it and poke the skin. With a poof, the flower exploded, and the pollen shot up Mae's nose. She sneezed and staggered back out of the cove. Leo caught her.<br>"You okay?" Leo asked. Mae coughed violently and nodded. All of a sudden, her sinuses cleared as she gazed up into his face.  
>"I love you, Leo," she said, dreamily. The others stood transfixed as she stood up and grabbed his face. Smashing her lips against his, Mae stood that way for several minutes.<br>"What?" he asked, weakly. Mae let him go and gazed up at him with a sappy expression on her face.  
>"You're cute," she said. Jason laughed but quickly covered it with a convenient coughing fit. Leo was still standing paralyzed as he stared down at Mae bewildered.<br>"Dear Zeus, what has she gotten into?" asked Annabeth, giving the cove a quick once-over. She spotted the exploded shell that was all that was left of the puffy flower and shook her head.  
>"Guys, watch out for these things," she said, pointing out the purple orbs that dotted the landscape. Piper edged away from the patch of them-coincidentally bumping up against Jason.<br>"Apparently, Mae had been struck with a Love Orb," she remarked. Her tone was slightly fascinated as she stared at Mae's reaction to it. Addison looked absolutely repulsed. Annabeth grabbed Mae's arm and dragged her away from Leo.  
>"Come on, people," she ordered. "We've got flowers to pick."<br>With Addison fuming, the group trailed after their leader.  
>"Why do you think that Gaea isn't sending stuff after us to kill us?" asked Piper, eyeing Mae as she pestered Leo.<br>"It's weird that we've gotten as far as we have without more things trying to kill us," agreed Annabeth.  
>"Do- do you think that she's trying to help us?" Piper asked, puzzled. Annabeth bent to pick up a white flower. She gave it a faint sniff.<br>"That's definitely the flower," said Annabeth. Piper nodded, but something distracted her. The water next to the riverbank flickered. She was startled to find a face staring back at her that was not her own reflection.  
>"Anna-" she began. The view transfixed her. She gradually began to see who the image was. It was her in older years and far more beautiful than she could ever be. Piper leaned in and kept becoming more and more transfixed. She was beautiful. Exotic.<br>"Piper!" yelled Annabeth. Piper did not respond. The tips of her hair brushed the water as she leaned in.  
>"PIPER!"<p>

Chapter twelve

"Piper!"

Jason grabbed her shoulders and jerked her back. Piper let out an unearthly shriek as though something wrenched her heart out and fell back into Jason-causing him to fall. She buried her head in her hands and made a strange whimpering noise. Jason put an arm around her to stop her shivering. Annabeth grabbed the flowers and backed quickly away from the riverbank.  
>"We need to leave now!" said Annabeth. Her eyes were crinkled at the corners with worry as her gaze flitted nervously about.<br>"Addison, get Mae and Leo," ordered Annabeth. "Jason, help Piper. We're leaving."  
>The group had trouble leaving the valley since the valley seemed to be drawing them back.<br>"I'm beginning to understand how Narcissus got trapped here," murmured Annabeth, to Jason. He nodded and kicked a desperate tendril of a tree off. They had nearly reached the rope when Jason heard something completely unnatural.  
>"Ad, did you growl?" he asked. Addison raised his face to meet Jason's gaze.<br>"Pardon?" he replied, a line creasing his brow. Jason made to repeat it, but the noise interrupted him. The group's eyes grew large as the rumbling grew louder.  
>"Run!" yelled Annabeth. They took off in a sprint, but Addison chanced a glance backwards. The rumbling was chasing them. The trees began to shift. The pink branches thick with leaves stirred as if a breeze had disrupted their sleep. The rumbling-Addison soon realized-was from the trees themselves.<br>They were coming alive.  
>As they hurried up the rope, Addison glanced backwards again. To his horror, the ground was ripping up chunks of dirt revealing the damp roots. With a groan, the tree shifted from side to side as if it was an old man getting out of bed and trying to regain his footing again. Annabeth, Jason, and Leo were up. Piper was being shoved roughly by Mae who was eager to leave this place-the effects of the Love Orb finally wearing off and righting her mind. Addison could not help himself but look back again and spot the trees creaking and groaning as they rose to their full height. A bitter cold wind swept through the air and blew Mae's braids to one side.<br>"Go! Go!" called out Addison, frantically. Mae attempted to climb up faster but that still left Addison down below. She turned to look down once she had reached the top, but Addison was only halfway there, and the trees were gaining on him.  
>"Leo, do something!" she yelled, over the blustery wind. Leo frantically searched his took belt and withdrew a small hammer.<br>"Hiya!" he yelled, throwing it at the tree. A leafy branch snagged the hammer and threw it back. They all had to duck in order to avoid the all had to fumble for anything to save Addison, but none of them came up with anything.  
>"Addison, hurry!" yelled Mae. She only succeeded in pressuring him more and causing him to lose his foothold.<br>"Pull up the rope!" yelled Annabeth, seizing the end of the rope.  
>"Flowers are so not worth this much trouble! I don't care how special the girl is!" yelled Leo, grabbing the rope and heaving his whole skinny body frame into it.<br>"Shut up and help!" yelled Mae. Her gaze went back to Piper, but she was still so shaky from her soul-gripping experience with the enchanted river that she was not much use. Jason released her and plunged forward to help.

"Die!" yelled Mae, picking up the only thing that she had available.  
>"You're going to hit it with a rock?" asked Leo, completely bewildered.<br>"That's the only thing we have right now, Valdez!" hissed Mae, throwing the rock with extreme accuracy.  
>"Might as well shoot an arrow at it," growled Leo, thinking Mae's quest futile. Her eyes lit up as the realization struck. She grabbed her only detonator arrow and strung it.<br>"Heads up, Addi!" yelled Mae. The arrow was let loose with a twang and hit the target precisely.

BOOM!

The disturbance caused a series of huge storks to rise out of the pond and fly off in search of a better snack room. The tree-now with a hole blasted in the middle of it- slowed down and swayed dangerously. Addison had finally succeeded in getting over the cliff and was now in the safety of his friends.  
>"Run now!" ordered Annabeth, grabbing Piper's arm alongside Jason. Without even caring what she would say, Addison grabbed Mae's arm and practically carried her out with them. Leo ran in hot pursuit-all the while making stupid quips about the trees behind them.<br>"Shut up," snapped Mae, who was now in a foul temper since she realized that she had been victimized by a Love Orb.  
>"Be quiet, Mae," replied Addison. Her eyebrows shot up into the folds of her slightly fallen down hairdo. A scowl darkened her face as they walked along quickly.<br>"We have to get back to that batty old lady and give her these flowers before we get back to the ship." informed Annabeth. Everyone was so tired and shaken up from the valley that they did not respond.  
>"Ah, I see that you have brought back my flowers," said Ariadne, once they had gotten back to the silver trailer. Annabeth gave her a weary look before taking the flowers out of the satchel.<br>"What is the information?" she asked. The woman beckoned with her finger.  
>"Come," she murmured. The others made to follow her, but Ariadne held up her hand.<br>"No," she insisted. "Only two." Annabeth's gaze raked over the group and landed on Mae. She was looking so depressed that Annabeth took pity.  
>"Mae," she said. The others fell back as the two warily followed her into her silver trailer. Once inside, the girls' mouths dropped open. The walls were completely covered in sticky notes, newspaper clippings, and photos. There were even pages of notebook paper that had been tacked up to the wall and sketched and written all over.<br>"Here, here," the woman kept repeating. Dropping all wariness, Annabeth curiously stepped forward to the spot where Ariadne was pointing. Her grey eyes searched the spot but found nothing particularly outstanding.  
>"Where?" asked Annabeth, but was interrupted by Mae.<br>"Look here," she said. The newspaper article caught her attention. There were certain letters circled to form a word.  
>"Death by prophecy."<br>The words chilled the humid air inside the trailer and left Mae wondering how on earth Ariadne had picked that particular phrase out of the words in the seemingly-normal newspaper.  
>"How did you pick out the-?" Mae asked. Annabeth waved her hand impatiently, but Ariadne responded anyway.<br>"Oh, this lovely old woman told me in a dream!" she said, brightly. Mae gave her a nervous smile and nodded.  
>"Lovely," she muttered, sarcastically.<br>"What does death by prophecy mean?" asked Annabeth. Mae flushed as she realized that she should have asked that particular question first.  
>"One of you will die," the woman whispered. Mae gulped and took an involuntary step backwards. Annabeth frowned and continued looking at the newspaper clipping.<br>"Where did you get this newspaper clipping?" she asked.  
>"It's right around here! The stand is somewhere in Alaska. I don't remember the exact details." said Ariadne. Annabeth nodded slowly.<br>"Thank you for your information," she said. Ariadne nodded brightly and dumped her flowers in a pot of boiling something. They exited quickly to rejoin the others.  
>"What did you find out?" asked Jason, from beside Piper. She still looked sickly from her encounter but was looking slightly better with friends comforting her.<br>"Oh, it's-umm-nothing much. Nothing we didn't already know." replied Annabeth. Mae had opened her mouth to reply but gave Annabeth a funny look at her reply. She pursed her lips together and stayed silent until she could get together with Annabeth alone.  
>The boat ride towards Alaska was awkward and tiring at best. Mae had begun the most annoying habit of blurting out apologies for her actions in the valley to whoever would listen-especially Leo.<br>She was currently sitting on the side of the ship with her feet dangling off when Addison sat next to her.  
>"Sunset is pretty," he remarked. Mae gave him a sidelong glance as if remembering the last time that they had witnessed a sunset together.<br>"Yeah," she replied, somewhat miserably.  
>"Look, Addison, I'm really really sorry about the whole Leo thing." Addison could not stay mad long with Mae. He sighed and looked over at her. Her large blue eyes were filled with tears and looked at him pleadingly. Was it his imagination, or was there something else there also? Addison nodded.<br>"It was under the Love Orb." he replied, evenly. Mae's face lit up with a slight smile.  
>"Thanks, Ad," she said, hugging him. Addison gave a stiff nod and patted her back. After a brief pause, Mae interrupted his train of thought.<br>"I thought this would be easier, Ad. Whenever we talked about adventure and beating up bad guys, I never thought it would be like this." she sniffled. Addison rubbed her back and watched a small fish dart underneath the boat.  
>"Just look on the bright side, Mae," Addison said. "Things can't get much worst. True, we'll get chased by a couple more man-eating, demigod-hating monsters, but look at it this way, we'll just have to keep saving the world." Mae gave him such a sorrowful look that Addison wondered what the two had been told back in the trailer.<br>"What is it, Mae?" he asked. Mae looked at him as if wondering what his coffin would look like. He took her hands in his.  
>"Mae," he said. She gulped and looked away-conveniently slipping her hands out of his grasp.<br>"Nothing," she replied, although her tone clearly told that it was not just nothing. Addison wanted to press it, but Mae's expression told him enough. They watched the sinking sun with heavy hearts-each wishing that this quest had never happened.  
>Leo tossed and turned that night. Images of a dark skinned girl kept popping up. Her caramel hair bounced along her shoulders and back every time she moved.<br>The first image was of the mysterious girl laughing at some kind of picnic. Her white teeth flashed in the sun as her golden eyes crinkled.  
>The second image was of her really close to his face. She smiled that smile that made Leo's heart leap up into his throat and leaned in...<br>Leo woke up with a start and glanced wildly about the room. He was covered in a fine layer of sweat and had the blanket tangled up in loops around his body. Untangling himself and sliding from the hammock, Leo hit the floor and traveled quickly to the control room. Once inside, he began to tinker with things along the wall and wished that he knew why that the girl kept popping up in his mind. A nagging feeling was growing bigger as he continued to fiddle with things. The door creaked open.  
>"Leo, what are you doing at this time of night banging on the wall?" said Piper, only half awake. He stared at her messy hair that was sticky up in a messy afro and paused slightly embarrassed.<br>"Sorry, I forgot your rooms are beside this one," he replied. Piper squinted.  
>"What are you doing?" she asked, curiously.<br>"I, umm, had a bad dream, and I was trying to shake it off," he admitted, surprised at his own openness with Piper. She slowly crossed the room and peered closer in the half dying light.  
>"You okay?" she asked. Leo shrugged.<br>"I don't know," he responded, truthfully, running his hands through his hair and over his face.  
>"I'm not getting much sleep anymore." Piper laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.<br>"Do you want me to charmspeak you to sleep?" she asked. Leo was so tired that he was not even conscious of nodding. Piper led him out and down to his room. A noise down the hall slightly distracted her, but she did not turn around.  
>Upon hearing a noise from the control room, Jason opened his door wearily to see a familiar form leading Leo down to his bunk room. What was Piper doing? Thoughts of Piper swam through his head as Jason fell back into his bunk. Now that he was awake, Jason stared up at his ceiling lost in thought.<br>Reyna.  
>Piper.<br>The two were constantly on his brain.

Piper had every right to be with whomever she pleased. After the river incident, he could see why she was still shaken up and acting a bit off. Imagine getting stuck in your own reflection of what your future self would look like and being dragged under. He shuddered at the thought. He tossed and turned but finally managed to fall asleep sometime later.  
>Mae woke to the sun piercing through the window and covering everything in a thick haze of golden yellow.<br>"Annabeth, when are we going to get there?" she asked. Annabeth's curly head popped out from underneath the bunk below. Apparently, she had been awake some time.  
>"Leo calculated around 9:30 a.m.," she replied. Mae nodded and ran a comb through her hair and rebraided it.<br>By 9:30, the entire crew was clean, fed, and ready to start out again. Mount McKinley was just inside of the Denali National Park. They had somehow managed to glide over the blockades that prevented people from wandering along the Trapper Creek and had come extremely close to their destination.  
>"We're going to have a fun climb," remarked Mae.<br>"Come on, Mae, give the sons of Hephaestus some credit," said Leo, in a mock whine. She glanced over at the contraption that he was untangling from his backpack.  
>"Leo, what on earth do you have?" asked Mae, completely bewildered. Annabeth began helping set it up.<br>"It's a flying contraption much like the one that Daedalus used to escape his prison." explained Annabeth. Mae peered closer and watched Addison set up another.  
>"Except it's way cooler," added Leo, with a mischievous grin.<br>"I'm not going with that psycho," Mae said, pointedly to Leo. Leo gave her another devilish grin.  
>"Fine, you'll have to pair up with Addison then," replied Annabeth, coolly.<br>"Piper," she said, holding out an arm. The contraption was meant to hold two people each. Piper glanced half heartedly at Jason and reluctantly crossed over to join Annabeth. Following the instructions from the girls, Mae strapped herself to the contraption tied to Addison and sucked in her breath as they zoomed up into the air. A giddy laugh escaped her lips and sent chills across her face. The cold air snapped her breath away as they steadily gained air and continued upwards.  
>"Wasn't there a problem with Daedalus's invention?" yelled Mae, over the wind.<br>"Yeah, but Annabeth, Leo, and I fixed them," he yelled back in reply. Mae gave a short nod. There were not any three other people that she trusted wholly with her life.  
>"Just don't get too near the sun," Mae yelled, as a joke. She bent her head slightly to see that Addison was smiling.<br>It was nearly half past one when they landed for a break. The park was vast, and the airplanes were not particularly fast.  
>"Let's get some snacks at the snack bar," suggested Jason, pointing to a rambling, old building set up high in a hill. Weary for food, the others agreed. Once inside, Mae stopped short. The music in this place was amazing. Once the others had stepped in also, they too stopped for a minute. Annabeth, constantly wary of monsters, placed a hand on her dagger which was cleverly hidden under a fanny pack attached to her waist.<br>"Welcome to O.D.D.!" chirped a woman, coming from behind a counter.  
>"O.D.D?" whispered Addison. Mae merely shrugged. Her blue eyes caught some sort of banner pinned up along the wall. The music was making her really sleepy.<br>"Orpheus' Delighted Doo-gooders," read Mae. A laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it. A hippie looking man wandered out from behind the counter from where he was playing a lyre.  
>"Who are you?" asked Jason, gazing at the bizarre banner.<br>"Phil," the guy replied, smiling with all of his teeth. Jason smiled uneasily back.  
>"How are you related to Orpheus?" asked Annabeth, slapping a pack of trail mix out of Leo's hand.<br>"Hey, I thought we came here for food?" he protested, but Annabeth waved her hand to shut him up.  
>"We are his followers!" shouted the man, gleefully. Annabeth nodded.<br>"I see," she murmured.  
>"Would you care to buy a pack of trail mix?" the man asked. Annabeth smiled tightly and nodded.<br>"I guess," she replied. All the while, they kept on a steady watch for anything else suspicious but no random monsters decided to pop out.  
>They stocked up on trail mix packages and left, but Annabeth could not shake the feeling that they had gotten away a little too easily if they were really the followers of Orpheus.<br>"Don't you think it's odd that we got away from them?" Annabeth asked. Addison looked up in surprise from his trail mix.  
>"Why would they want to harm us?" he asked, chewing a rather distasteful dried banana slice. "They're Doo-gooders after all."<br>"Well, if they follow Orpheus, wouldn't he need to be alive for them to follow him?" Annabeth asked.  
>"You mean that Orpheus is wandering around because the Doors of Death are controlled by Gaea?" asked Jason. Annabeth nodded.<br>"So what?" asked Mae, taking a swig from her water bottle.  
>"Well, there would need to be a reason to release Orpheus," said Annabeth.<br>"It would make sense if he had a grudge against the gods, though," said Piper.  
>"I mean, his wife was in Hades, and when he tried to rescue her, Hades ended up taking her back because Orpheus turned around." Mae nodded.<br>"So do you think that Orpheus would have a grudge against demigods, and that's why he would want to kill us?" asked Mae.  
>"You would think that Gaea let him out for a reason, and I would have thought that the reason would be to cause some sort of harm us. It's very odd that we found that particular shop this close to Ouranos. There must be some reason why Gaea let us go." mused Annabeth. Leo's brow furrowed, and he began to fiddle with some sort of tinker toy in his work belt as he thought. No explanation...he thought. Gaea was not the type to be merciful or kind. She was more of the type to blow you up or send some sort of monster to eat you up with Tabasco sauce. Tabasco sauce. The thought pained Leo as he remembered that it was the favorite drink of Festus-his old dragon.<br>They donned on their thick jackets before climbing back into their flying contraptions and taking off.  
>Mae peered out onto the snowy cap and could see a temple rising out of the snow.<br>"Guys, I bet that's where we go!" shouted Mae, pointing down to the temple. Everyone's eyes followed her finger, and they prepared to land.  
>"Woah," murmured Leo, as they stepped into the place. The entire room was warmly lit with a fire in a brazen bowl. The fire cast flickering shadows along the face of a vast man. Although he was made out of stone, the dark color began to swim and shift almost as if it was not quite solid.<br>"It looks like the sky," murmured Piper, enraptured at the beauty. With a sudden grinding noise, the statue shifted, and the face came to life.  
>"Whom do you seek?" it thundered. Mae's mouth dropped open.<p>

Chapter thirteen

"W-we seek Ouranos," stammered Mae. Annabeth clamped a sturdy hand on Mae's wrist. The statue rumbled slightly as he leaned forward. His eyes were dark-seemingly endless until a spark of silver-white light flashed in his eyes ever so often.  
>"What do you want with him?" he demanded. Leo looked around confused.<br>"Well, aren't you him?" he asked, pointedly. The statue quaked the earth beneath their feet as he sat back in his throne.  
>"Yes," he rumbled, in reply.<br>"We-we need a favor," ventured Annabeth. The dark eyes turned to her. Mae thought she saw a spark of amusement there. When Ouranos did not make a move, Annabeth continued.  
>"Your-ahem-ex-wife cannot be defeated, and we were told that you knew her weakness," said Annabeth. You could have heard a pin drop.<br>"Yes," he drawled, lazily. They waited for what seemed like eternity.  
>"Well, are you going to tell us?" demanded Mae. All five pairs of hands clapped over her mouth to silence her. Annabeth's eyes darted around to search for an escape route. Ouranos broke out in laughter that made the entire temple shake.<br>"I like this one. She has spunk," Ouranos declared. All of the demigods relaxed.  
>"Yes, I will tell you. Gaea's reign must never come. She was a tyrant and ruthlessly destroyed everyone and everything. Even if I love her, she must be stopped." replied Ouranos. Annabeth shoved Mae behind her to prevent any further mishaps.<br>"Gaea's secret is that you cannot kill her while she's asleep or waking in your current state," Ouranos said. Looks of confusion crossed everyone's face.  
>"Then how-?" began Piper.<br>"You must join her in her less powerful state-when she's asleep," he said. They began to shift uneasily.  
>"How can we control what we do in dream state? I know I've never been able to," said Piper, glancing around uncertainly from one person to the next.<br>"You have to be charmed into a magical sleep," said Ouranos. Annabeth let out a small gasp. Jason gave her an uneasy look.  
>"And that means what, Annabeth?" he asked.<br>"How do we get charmed into a magical sleep?" asked Mae, confused.  
>"Orpheus," replied Annabeth. Her voice was calm, yet they could detect a slight tremor behind it.<br>"What's so scary about Orpheus?" asked Leo. All eyes turned to him, but they were all thinking it.  
>"Then who goes?" asked Jason, after no one answered Leo's question.<br>"To storm or fire, the world must fall," quoted Addison.  
>"So it's either me and Jason, or Addison and Jason?" asked Leo. The room was unnaturally silent.<br>"Ouranos," began Piper, but was cut off. The statue was frozen back again to its natural form.

They shuffled out quietly.

Back at their camp, the teenagers sat quietly around the campfire. Mae was trying to piece together the outcome of Annabeth's realization was having a hard time with Leo sighing mournfully every five minutes. Finally, Mae had enough.  
>"Leo, stop sighing!" she snapped, and stormed off. Out alone on the cliff, Mae was having an even harder time piecing the puzzle together. It all swam in her head. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright. Death by prophecy. "You would think that Gaea let him out for a reason, and I would have thought that the reason would be to cause some sort of harm us." Orpheus must lull them to sleep. To storm or fire the world must fall. To storm or fire did not mean literally. It meant in a dreamlike state. Why was Annabeth so worried? Because one of them would never wake up. "There must be some reason why Gaea let us go." Gaea let them go because she knew that one would never wake up. An oath to keep with a final breath. One of them would die. But what was the oath? The boys did not know. Mae sprang to her feet and bolted across the rough terrain until she was hit with another realization. What if Addison was the one to die? With her heart pounding, Mae raced to Annabeth.<br>"Annabeth!" she urgently whispered. A pair of cold, grey eyes met her's. Mae took a hesitant step back. Annabeth knew that she had come to the realization too.  
>"Mae," she said, loudly. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you in the morning, and we'll talk then." Mae opened her mouth to protest, but Annabeth gave her a pointed look before retiring to her tent. Mae firmly clamped her mouth shut but could not help but send a worried glance towards the boys.<p> 


End file.
